The Absolite Chronicles: Book 2: The Challenger
by Hyperjade
Summary: There is one week before the tournament that occurs only once a decade. With Caleb back in action and joined by friends, new and newer, team Edge, team Rush, team Ivy, and team Amber train to compete. But why isn't team Raider in town? What other adventures are in store for everyone? ( A pokemon mystery dungeon story, and sequel to Book One: Change")
1. Chapter One

**And Jango's back! Did you miss me? No? Whatever. You probably missed this story though!**

 **Just finished setting a trap into the front lawn, which Hyperjade will be falling into later. Good fun, and it's non-lethal. I think.**

 **We had reviews! I will respond to the ones not involving specific character bios, because people don't need spoilers, according to Hyper. Hyper himself has some responses too, but who wants to hear that?**

 _ **"To Northwest Brony: i agree that Servine's character development happened rather quickly. My attempt was to show the impact Caleb would have on the people in this world with who he is. And hey, you don't have to wait long for the next installment, you're about to read it!"**_

 **Yeah, Servine changed real quick. I asked Hyper to explain, and he said something about Servine not having figured out who she was at that point or whatever.**

 _ **"To Phillip Harbindinger: Thank you very much!"**_

 **I can imagine. Many PMD fictions involve retelling the game anyhow.**

 _ **"Don't be rude now, Jango"**_

 **How did you... Never mind. I guess you could guess what i would say. I was/will be your character after all...  
**

 ** _"To Pigeoncracker: I am sorry the ending was not satisfying, and i am glad that the sequels planned for the story will continue on for a while to come."_**

 **Books are like drugs for you, huh? Something worth being addicted to, I guess.**

 **Right then! The first chapter of book two is upon you! Go ahead, read it!**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: The Morning**

⽯ **Caleb's POV** ⽯

The sun. Brilliant, burning, and crucial to survival. Most people view it as just that, the sun. A miracle, they would call it. Life giving, warmth bringer, a symbol of hope and a new day, the start of everything, even the day.

I was not most people. I view it as what it physically is. Most see it as the shining light that starts everything. I see it's physical side. I know what a star is, the burning sphere of plasma out in space that happens to provide light and warmth to our planet, and if the planet was any further or any closer to the sun, it is less likely to sustain life. I know what a sun is, and how even the brightest of stars eventually die.

At least, I used to be that way. I still know something for what it is, but I try to avoid that 'it'll die eventually' kind of stuff. I was growing up… No, I was doing the opposite of that. I was degrading back to childhood. I was slowly becoming a kid again.

I was walking away from the guild this morning right now. I was looking at the sunrise and thinking _everything is off of my chest. Everything will be all right_.

At the same time, I still knew what the sun actually was. I was old enough to know that I needed to be professional, at least if no one else will. I needed to be analytical to help people succeed, just like I have always done.

However, I have allowed myself to laugh a few times while with my friends. I feel amused by their jokes and their antics as they jest and play around me. I watch them talk and play and blow things up… It's all fun and games to them, and it is life here.

A definite change to where I used to live. I had to decide whether it was a welcome change to me or not still. These guys made violent demolition of the surrounding areas whilst sparring look fun and inviting. It was fun to them, it was fun to everyone who lived here. This is what they do best, battling and sparring.

My friends. There was Servine. An interesting person. She acts differently in different times, like she is unsure of who she is. Her personality is in a constant state of flux, and she always had funny things to say in response to things. She had a bad side though, I learned that if you mess with her, you get roughed up badly. She does seem to be finding a personality that she will stick to at this point, however.

Then there was Mightyena. The guy was interesting. He had been a nasty person when I first met him, then he had a crush on my teammate, and then he was like this. He enjoyed fighting, which made sense considering who he was. Even after what happened during the first moment I met the guy, he was probably one of my closest friends here. He had some conflict in his emotions as well. He was practicing intimidating foes for the upcoming battle, and was practicing turning invisible with a faint attack. Loyal to the end, that one.

After those two came Jake. He used to be rather afraid of me, and I suppose that besides the obvious bit about my being involved in a few deadly situations, I did look rather intimidating. It took a while for that fear to evaporate completely. He could destroy me in a fight, after all. The amnesiac had plenty to do with some of the events around here, and he even saved the world at one point.

His buddy, Swampert, was big and imposing, but he was actually quite nice. Kind of like Kangaskhan, but he is willing to fight and along with Jake, saved the world at one point. He was a good listener, while Mightyena might ask someone to get to the point, Swampert was patient and willing to listen while someone, say me, blabbered on about something using more words than I have to. His strength was impressive.

After that, there were Servine's and Mightyena's teammates. Bastiodon, Machoke, and the tangela twins. Those twins were odd. They spoke at exactly the same time and had the same voice, and showed no apparent emotion unless they were laughing.

Machoke was a powerhouse. Unable to toss attacks around through the air and destroy things from a distance, he preferred to use his impressive strength to beat foes into submission. He tried to avoid the antics of my friends, preferring to sleep against a tree and join in when the actual training starts.

Bastiodon is slow, but easily the most powerful of us. He could take any of us out in one hit, the problem was hitting us. The guy took so long to turn around it was just embarrassing. However, if any of us got hit with a flash cannon… We were done for. Bastiodon was basically a physical wall with few weaknesses. In a way, he literally is a wall. The beginners to fighting, like me, practice dodging by avoiding these flash cannons and trying not to get instantly knocked out. A tough thing to do because Bastiodon was learning to shoot ahead of targets. The amount of times I have suddenly blacked out with quite a bit of pain to this date…

And after that, there were my teammates. The first was Shedinja. He could only say his name for some reason, ever since he went through a process called 'evolution', which does not follow the pattern of actual evolution apparently. I had yet to learn anything about it. Shedinja used to be called Nincada, pre 'evolution'. He did not talk much even then, but he had useful things to say when he did. Shedinja was creepy now, always being silent and viewing the scenarios in front of him with no passion whatsoever. He was not able to. He was able to understand us, and he trained himself just as we trained, but we could no longer understand him. Regardless, he has been a good friend to me in the time I could speak with him, and I intended to be a good friend in return.

Finally, the last person in this circle of friends… Well, I don't really know if I can call her a friend. She is plenty friendly, and her personality is definitely good. She was friends with the others, but nowadays, she is almost my worst enemy at this point. She, however, does not think so. The silly girl is hopelessly in love with me, to the point where she won't ever leave me alone. Her name is Sarah. Sarah, well, as far as I can tell, she is a slightly insane, lovestruck pyromaniac. Maybe that's not completely fair, but she likes to use flamethrowers, she is completely and scarily attached to me, and she won't ever, ever leave me alone. She scares me, really.

Those were the people in front of me. The people responsible for my recovery. My friends. Allies. If it was not for them, I may not be around. I actually owe my life to Sarah, and have told her this, but every conversation with her turns into her trying to do something to make me interested. She never used to act like that, but she slowly got worse and worse over time until she eventually became unbearable and I had to flee from her repeatedly.

When it had been a choice between getting me back to my old home and being stuck here forever, Servine had been willing to stop Sarah at any cost, but at this point it was useless to try and stop the crazy girl. Now I simply told her to make the best of it, and I would just run away when I needed to. She would find someone else eventually.

I hoped.

Oh, dear. It seems I have forgotten to introduce myself. My name is Caleb. I am an absol. At least recently. Others think I am strong, that I am the impenetrable leader. I do not know if they are right, but I feel that I am not as much as they think I am.

I had been told by an absol that it was more than humility, and that it was more like pessimism. Maybe so, but I knew there were pokemon stronger than me. There would always be someone stronger, and I would not dare forget that. Just like I would not dare forget what my world was like. What my old life was like.

Yeah, I said 'my world'.

This world, full of pokemon, was not originally my world. Servine, Mightyena, Jake, Shedinja, and everyone else are pokemon. I am an absol, but I was not always one. I used to live in a world where it was easy to bleed, in a world that had wars and destruction and other terrible things that ended in death. Yet, it was also the world that had many achievements. We made it to the moon. We did many things as a species.

I am talking about the human world, of course. I am a human. Am human named Caleb, forever trapped in this body. The body of an absol, the mind and experience of a human. The other human who has come to this world, Jake, had lost his memories.

Jake. The raichu currently blasting Servine with enough electricity to fry anything. She stood shakily to her feet. Grass types do repel electricity. It was intense how much punishment a pokemon can take compared to a human. That blast could have torn a human apart.

"Nicely done taking that thunderbolt while he was wearing his scarf." I praised. Servine had been knocked out in one hit the first time that happened. Now she was strong enough to handle one of them.

"Th-th-thanks," she stammered, shuddering from the paralysis and the high voltage coursing through her body "Th-th-That m-means a 'l-lot to m-me, really."

Inwardly I chuckled. Her slightly sarcastic tone was always amusing to me. Mightyena was the one chuckling out loud. "Listen to you, stammering. You acting shy today? Is that the personality you picked for today?" he said, and earned himself a vine whip to the top of his sorry skull for his attempt at humor.

Now I chuckled. "You earned that, Mightyena" I chuckled. My friend glowered at me.

"You're next," he said coldly.

Jake looked over at me, and I did not miss the uncertainty in his eyes. "Uh… You really want to try?"

"Not necessarily, **Mightyena** ," I growled, glaring back at the wolf-like pokemon. He grinned his grin full of fangs. Servine sighed over to the side, while the tangela brought her her cheri berry and oran berry, the berries for curing paralysis and healing the body respectively.

Servine does not like cheri berries it seems, as she cringed upon eating one. I have never gotten it in words, but it was quite clear; regardless, she stopped sparking and and her electrical burns disappeared as she ate the two berries.

I call them berries because that was what the pokemon called them, but oran berries were about the size of a tomato, and was a bright blue with a thick stem. The cheri berry was near the size of a cherry, but a little larger, and the few times I have eaten one, it had no pit. They were actually somewhat spicy, and I do not like spicy food. On the other hand (paw, sorry), Mightyena apparently loves spicy food. He uses this thing called a tamato berry in the drinks he makes in spinda's cafe. How spicy are they? Don't ask me.

This world was completely impossible, really. Berries that can heal a good amount of your wounds, berries that can heal triple that, berries to cure burns, paralysis, and poison, and those were just the ones I have seen in action. Apparently there is one to thaw someone out of ice. I don't know how it works, other than that it should not work.

Either way, Servine was ready for battle again. "Caleb, it's your turn to spar with me," she told me. I had not fought her yet, nor had I seen her get serious before, but now I saw resolve in her eye. This would be a real fight.

"I suppose I am out of practice now?" I conceded, walking into the makeshift arena "I had best learn to fight without having a ridiculously powerful weapon at my disposal". Servine smirked at that. "Yes, such a shame your evil, terrifying crystal blade of darkness shattered" she teased. The weapon I mentioned had been a crystal I had found in a cave around the time that I found myself here. It had been a useful weapon that absorbed attacks and allowed me to sweep enemies easily, but it also reflected emotions. and when those emotions grew too powerful, the blade started affecting things, even transforming Mightyena and I into raging monsters.

The thing had broken after that, and there was no chance I would ever try and repair it. Most of the blade had been buried anyhow; nevertheless, the fact that I had not known how dangerous it was was yet another thing I blamed myself for. A sore spot, if you will. I looked away in reaction to Servine's comment, and my expression was probably not too happy.

"Oh, Sorry, Caleb," Servine quickly amended, "I know that was insensitive-"

"And yet it is me who should be apologizing, is it not?" I asked rather harshly "I had plenty of reasons to throw that terrible thing away, but I did not. I am at fault here."

"Caleb…" Sarah said, speaking up now. Not even she liked it when I blamed myself for things. Then again, why should I not? I kept the stupid blade, I failed to go home when I had the chance, I almost starved myself to death in my sleep, and I attacked Sarah in my anger. What about that **wasn't** my fault? Nothing. That was what. Nothing could be blamed on anyone else. I kept full responsibility.

"Shut it!".

Something whacked me on the top of my head, driving my head down. The pain shocked me out of my thoughts for the moment. Servine had given me a whack with… Was that a flail!?

"Promise me, Caleb," Servine demanded, "promise me you will stop blaming yourself. it's over, and you need to act like it's over!"

She had a glowing green flail in one hand, a rapier in the other; prepared for the sparring match we were supposed to have. Had she pulled those out of thin air?

It took me a moment to realize what she wanted, and I was reluctant to comply. "But I **am** to blame!" I protested, causing her to scowl. Deep down, I think I knew she just wanted me to let things go and be happier, but was that possible for me? I thought not. "Listen to yourself, Caleb, you are begging us to treat you badly, no matter what we say, and frankly, it's getting pretty tiring. maybe it is your fault, but i… no, **none** of us give a **damn** about that! it's in the freaking past! Forget it, and promise me you will stop blaming yourself!" Servine screamed at me.

I blinked. I have never seen Servine get so angry at any point. She was downright furious with me now, just because I was blaming myself. t was my fault, I knew that, but I saw now that it was only hurting the others when I acted like that.

I looked at my friends, and teammates. Mightyena was staring at me, a hard look in his eyes. He agreed with Servine wholeheartedly. Machoke had actually came over to see what the ruckus was, and seeing me look at him, he nodded. Bastiodon also nodded. The tangela behind Servine were shaking themselves up and down. Shedinja was impassive as always, but when I gazed at him, he said " **Shedinja** ".

And then there was Sarah. Her eyes held a sadness I had not seen for a while. Her undying, beyond annoying love for me mostly dominated her eyes, but now there was a sadness instead. Even she thought I was just hurting myself and everyone around me.

Shedinja bobbed up and down now, catching my attention. He had apparently realized that he could not speak and communed with me another way. Everyone agreed with Servine.

But why would I lie to myself? Why would I pretend that I was not to blame? Servine… saying that I was basically begging for them to treat me badly… I was, was I not? Who am I to hurt them like that? If it were just me…

But Servine and the others clearly agree. They think I am just hurting us all like that, and if they all agree… They must be right. I must be wrong. To think that I have been hurting them for so long at this point… Depressed and alone, that was what I was. My friends, the pokemon who care for me, all trying to save me from myself.

 _...How could I have been so selfish?_

They were all right. But one thing I feared was promises. I always feared breaking a promise if I made one. Was I brave enough to promise that I would not do this to my friends anymore, to at least keep this to myself?

No. I was not brave enough. Did they deserve it? Yes, They deserve to be treated properly. My mind was blank for a few minutes as I gathered courage. Finally, I focused only on the people in front of me, friends, teammates, one and the same. I let go of things and focused on their faces. Finally, I gave a weak smile.

"I… Promise…" I got out. I snapped to attention, and widened my smile. After a few minutes of trying to forget everything wrong with the world, as I had just promised to do, my smile became real. "I promise to never take my past out on you all. I am sorry, I have been insensitive," I said.

After five seconds, what I said sunk in. Everyone broke into the biggest smiles I have ever seen in my life, and all looking right at me. It warmed my heart, seeing those smiles, and I found a sense of euphoria rising in my chest. My smile widened as well, and I knew that even if I found myself thinking these things, I would not let those thoughts control me. I would do my best to never subject my friends to that. Ever.

Servine game be a hug, which turned my happiness to horror for just a moment as I tried to escape the grass type's grasp, but she was actually pretty strong. I grunted and tried to pull away while the others laughed. My head was being tilted to the side as Servine was pushing down my single horn on the side of my head.

My grunt was muffled by the leafy skin the plant snake had. I remembered with a smile how I had accidentally bitten it and realized it tasted like spinach. Oh, if I did that again, I would die a painful death by a vengeful grass snake pokemon.

I had not expected her to get up close and personal with her hug, but there was no real affection behind it, just relief and happiness that I was doing better. Mightyena reminded me of Shadow somewhat, the character from Homeward Bound, at least the loyalty bit and the never giving up bit. If Shadow had been a shadow ball throwing mightyena, that is. His personality when he was not practicing intimidating people definitely reminded me of that. Mightyena, like Servine, had not known really who he was after that little change of heart, but he was figuring it out slowly, just as Servine has been doing.

I wondered which character or person Servine now reminded me of. She was finding herself, and she seemed to be a powerful individual but happened to enjoy certain things and when she gets them, she acts more like the stereotypical fun loving girl. At times she was also terrifying, like if two of my friends not into an argument and she went to break it up. I remembered a time when Sarah and Mightyena were bickering, like they have been doing recently.

" _You have no idea what you're talking about!"_ Sarah had said.

" _Yes, Sarah, I do, and if you don't really want to pay attention, you won't see why i'm right. You need to listen for once in your life!"_ Mightyena had responded.

Then Servine, taking notice of the argument, immediately put on her disappointed face and looked at the two of them. " _Is there a problem?"_ She had asked coldly, and you could practically see a dark aura of disappointment around her that scared the crap out of the rest of us.

" _We're sorry. We'll be quiet now…"_ Mightyena and Sarah had whimpered immediately, stunned at the change and quite afraid. I had been fearful as well.

And that was why I am glad Servine was being a happy person right now. No dark aura of disappointment for me, and I probably would have been easier to convince to make a promise if she had done that to me. The only person scarier than her would probably be an angry Chimecho.

 _Who does she remind me of?_

Servine released me, and I stumbled back, looking at the girl apprehensively. After a moment, I did as I was told and dropped it. "You wanted to spar? I am afraid I won't offer too much of a challenge yet…" I asked.

"Not yet. If it's the last thing I do, you are going to be the toughest absol in the bunch" she said, and I felt a chill "Let's start with some dodging".

She picked up her weapons. I decided to stall because I was still unsure about fighting like this. "You use a flail and rapier?" I asked, putting the sense of being impressed into my voice. I was impressed, after all.

"Is 'rapier' the word for a sword in your world?" she asked. So many human words somehow in the pokemon vocabulary for whatever reason, and they don't know 'rapier'? "It is a type of sword, and there are many types of swords. That blade would be best used for thrusting and stabbing attacks, though it looks like you can do at least some slashing with it. And the other weapon… A flail?"

"You call this thing a flail?" she asked, looking at the ball and chain. I nodded in response. "Yes, they are typically used for heavily armored knights who prefer slow and powerful weapons, and that thing is pretty big even by flail standards".

I frowned for an instant of an instant.

 _Slow and heavy weapon as well as a lightweight fast weapon… That is a conflict of fighting style if I have ever seen one…_

Then again, if she was using them, that must mean she could make it work. "Right then, we had best get to battle then," I said, and immediately earned a glowing flail to the mouth. I yelped in pain as I tumbled away.

 _That freaking hurt! Time for me to get serious…_

But I hesitated again, because fighting just was not my thing. However, I had to get used to it, maybe even learn to enjoy it. Sarah looked like she wanted to help, glaring at Servine, but I shot her the harshest warning glance I could. I needed to deal with this myself.

Servine was in my face already. By everything, she was fast! Her rapier flew forward in a rapid stabbing maneuver, moving fast enough to appear like she had multiple blades. That hurt too, but I was not being flung anywhere.

Acting like what Servine definitely did **not** expect, I stood my ground instead of stumbling away and swung a scratch at her. My horn glowing a brilliant white with powerful normal type energy, I tried to carve her face while enduring the pain. If there is one thing I can handle, it is pain.

She leaped up and avoided my strike, which was not surprising considering my poor speed compared to her, and way too late I noticed a familiar green spike ball.

 **THUNK!**

I was sent flying again, out of the clearing and into a tree, where my horn caught a tree branch and I was just hanging there, a slightly deadpan look on my face. The others looked up at me, and if it were an animated show, I would say they had a drop of sweat on their heads as they saw the result.

 _That is enough of that._

I powered up scratch, the branch getting cut off as my blade grew sharper in response. The white energy held as I hit the ground running. I had almost failed to do that, but things were going well so far. Now I had to actually land one blow. One hit, and I would be happy with my performance.

Just one hit was what I needed. One hit was not going to happen. Serving darted around me in a blur of green and white, glowing with the power of quick attack. I tried to turn around, but my back was slammed by a certain flail and flattened me against the ground, my legs splayed painfully outwards in both directions, making me give a yip of pain.

Did I mention I hate the way my voice now makes dog-like sounds when I involuntarily yelp in pain? I don't think I mentioned it.

I tried to look up only to find myself getting stabbed repeatedly by that awful rapier. Servine could take me down blindfolded, I bet. Blindfolded and wearing weights.

I was already losing consciousness, my vision blurring. I tried to throw Servine, and thanks to my superior muscles, I was able to toss her. She landed gracefully and looked at me. "Impressive. Not many people stand up after tha-"

I dropped to the floor and lost consciousness.

⻤ **Shedinja's POV** ⻤

 _Huh._

"Caleb!" Sarah cried out, running to her beloved and making sure he was all right.

"Hang on a minute, he looked fine a moment ago!" Mightyena protested, looking at my friend. He was out cold, his horn stabbed into the dirt. Again.

Not being able to talk was a serious hinderance on me, but we seemed to communicate somewhat respectively. At least for now. In the middle of combat, I would not be able to help much other than blasting something when I got the chance. it was a good thing that Caleb had at least somewhat understood me when I was talking to him considering a promise. I get the sense he does not like making promises.

"Yes, it seems that he was doing his best to remain standing, but he just did not have the power to stand. We must work on that," Servine said, crossing her arms and her weapons fading out of existence.

"Whoa there, Servine," Mightyena said, "You're talking like Caleb now? Do we have another Caleb in our midst? Nature save us!".

"What was that?" Servine asked, her voice cold and her disappointed aura rippling from her. It was actually pretty scary at this point. Mightyena jolted back. "Ah, nothing! Nothing!" he said, trying to avoid the grass type's wrath. Sarah chose the wrong time to laugh at Mightyena.

"And you…" Servine said, turning her newfound evil look at Sarah, who immediately recoiled and looked like she was thinking _I've made a grave mistake!_

"Uh" she said, looking from Caleb to Servine and back. Did she really want to challenge Servine? Probably not, but she was at least going to stick around. The girl was annoyingly persistent when it came to Caleb, to the point where I wanted to rebuke her at least once an hour as she tried something.

"Yes?" Servine asked. I think she was actually having fun messing with Sarah and Mightyena, who bickered constantly nowadays. They found little things to butt heads over consistently now.

"Uh… I'll just be quiet now…" She said, hoping to avoid a problem. I think Servine did actually smash one of them during one of these events. It had been rather amusing to the others, though I was focusing on something else at the moment, like how I will never be able to drink one of Spinda's drinks again (That would have drawn a tear if I had been capable of crying).

"Good."

Sarah brought out a reviver seed and slipped it into Caleb's mouth, waiting for the small thing to do its magic, and I noticed that she was planning to be right in front of the poor guy when he awoke.

" _Sarah, darn it all. You really must let him be. Caleb will not appreciate your antics, and I am frankly surprised he tolerates it at all. Please do not push your luck, Sarah, because you are kind under all of that ridiculous love and emotion that you show that hurts Caleb more than helps him. Be kind,"_ I tried to say.

" **Shedinja**."

Sarah, startled by my voice, looked up and backed up one step. "What is it, Shedinja?"

I needed to keep her occumpied for another few seconds. Well, I could really say anything, right? " _Hello"._

" **Shedinja**."

" _What do you think you can possibly do to get Caleb to love you? There is no chance if you act like that"_

" **Shedinja**."

For a moment, I had an urge to say something rather rude. I held myself back. Just because these people could no longer understand me did not mean it was alright to go about throwing insults like a pokemon fond of using fling.

Sarah sighed, and looked down at Caleb again. " _No, look at me,"_ I tried to say. " **Shedinja**."

"Oh, what is it?" Sarah asked irritably now, and Caleb woke up, his wounds healing. He took in the situation and snuck away, stealthier than I have ever seen him. The attempt to avoid Sarah seems to give him more capabilities.

Sarah looked down at where Caleb had been, seeing nothing, and whipping her head about. The human turned absol was nowhere to be seen, and Mightyena was chuckling to himself while Servine was glaring slightly at Sarah.

"Where'd you go?" Sarah asked, looking about. Caleb never answered. The guy had probably cleared out as fast as possible. I could probably find him, though.

I turned invisible with a thought command. Being a ghost type now did have a few advantages. I floated about, trying to spot the missing absol; eventually, I did, and he was sneaking up… On Servine.

 _you are in trouble if you do that, but be my guest._

Was Caleb was going to try and catch Servine off guard? That was a big mistake for several reasons. Servine was going to take him down in an instant. Mightyena could smell him, and Servine could probably hear him.

He chose now to lunge, and earned a flail to the top of his head. **BANG!** Caleb dropped like a stone, and Servine had not even turned around. I mentally chuckled at the scene, while my body said " **Shedinja** ".

 _You have a ways to go, Caleb._

⽯ **Caleb's POV** ⽯

"Did you think that would work on me?" Servine asked me, while Sarah came forward with an oran berry.

"I had to try," I responded, "I need to learn how to move quicker and quieter than I can. Attempting such in a real life situation would be the best way to learn, correct?"

Servine nodded, dispelling her flail. My head hurt quite a bit. I went to rub it, but my paw would not reach. Servine chuckled at that. "Oh, you still have human habits. That paw won't help you. Here" she said, starting to rub my head, giving me awful memories and thoughts about how I am doglike now. I shied away while Sarah glared at Servine.

"I would rather not be petted," I told Servine, and then set my attention on Sarah, "and you need to understand that Servine is in no way a threat to your fantasies."

"Fantasies?" Sarah asked somewhat indignantly. I nodded in response. She chose to get closer, and I probably asked for it, but she challenged that by trying to just be near me and talking. "That's not fair and you know it, Furball. You will eventually fall for me, if I have to spend the rest of my life trying!" she said, and tried to nuzzle me on the spot. I slammed her face into the dirt in response, resulting in laughter from Mightyena and Servine giving Sarah a disappointed look.

"Listen up. I need to be training with you guys, and none of us needs to be distracted by your antics. Please, train with us, but don't let something as simple as emotion get in the way."

"Mmmfff…" Sarah replied through the dirt. I let her go and walked to one end of the clearing. "I can focus on being stealthy later. At the moment, I need to learn how to deal with several types of attacks."

"Sarah, please face me in battle" I challenged. Maybe this would get her off my back for a while.

"Wait, you want me to attack you?" she asked incredulously. I nodded, and Servine nodded as well. She understood my reasoning. "Don't be silly" Sarah protested "I won't hurt you".

"Then I will attack," I promised, staring her down, "I need to learn how to avoid widespread attacks like flamethrowers properly, and you are the only one who can do that for me."

"But-" Sarah began to protest before she saw Servine next to her, giving her a death glare. I think Servine was enjoying doing that to Sarah and Mightyena at this point. She quailed at the sight of it, and eventually, reluctantly nodded. When her back was turned to me, Servine gave a smirk.

 _Yes, she is definitely enjoying scaring those two. It has become a game for her._

Sarah stood uncertainly in front of me. She hesitated, and I had to decide what attack I could use. Sarah would be resistant to a bite attack, and she might get the wrong idea, if that meant anything to pokemon… I could use scratch, but that was rather weak… I could use quick attack, but I thought I may want to use more of that energy dodging than attacking.

I would have to go for scratch, but I had a trick to pull beforehand. Sarah seemed to realize I was serious when white glowing swords appeared around me and began to swirl around me for a bit. This went until they launched upward and my body was enveloped in red light. I felt my muscles pulse as my strength increased tremendously. I set my blade aglow with white, preparing a scratch attack.

"Prepare yourself," I said, deadly calm. Sarah looked apprehensive now, apparently realizing that I was actually going to attack. "Caleb, you're really going to-" Sarah began.

I galloped towards her as fast as I could without tripping and crashing. Her cry of alarm at the concept that I was perfectly willing to attack her was drowned out by her yelp of pain as I struck home with scratch. Sarah was flung away, a visible cut on her face and some of her fur flying.

I had not meant to do that much damage, perhaps I had misjudged just how much my swords dance does. I almost apologized, but I held myself back. This was a fight.

Sarah got up, a look of shock on her face. "Attack me." I ordered. She immediately shook her head no. "Attack me!" I demanded. She looked stunned. "Why won't you attack me!?This is a training exercise!"

"Why would I attack you?" Sarah asked incredulously. I scowled in response. "I need to learn how to dodge fire and water attacks, and maybe even your razor wind if it comes to it. If I do not learn how to fight and dodge, how will our team ever make it past the first round? Sarah, we need to train!"

"Find a fire type," she said, "I won't hurt you. I refuse," This was beyond infuriating. This tournament that I was just in time for meant plenty to everyone here, and so I allowed it to mean something to me. Sarah would get us defeated.

I sighed. "Very well, I shall later. Someone else, who can help me learn to dodge effectively with little effort?" I asked. I avoided Sarah's gaze. Maybe if her feelings were hurt, she would lay off me. It was horrible to consider, but did I have a choice?

 _yes, I have a choice. I hate it when she gets hurt, especially when I do it. I need to act emotionless at the most._

"Hey, Sarah," I said, looking back at her. She had turned around, but now she looked back at me. She had sadness her eyes. "Listen… I apologize. These actions I am taking; they are not acceptable, Sarah but I need space, all right? Can you do that for me? I don't want to hurt you, Sarah. Understand that you are giving me little choice in the matter."

She blinked. Her eyes showed some confusion. Finally, she looked at the ground, slightly ashamed. I knew that this would not fix the problem in any way, but I had to try. It hurt whenever I messed up her mood. Whatever reasons I had, something just felt **very** wrong making her feel bad.

"P-please, I won't… I promise I won't bother you during training, alright?" She asked. It was progress, and I think that I can take that. I can recover my sanity while fighting.

"Thank you, Sarah," I said, feeling like I was signing a contract with the devil, knowing I just gave her permission to stick as close as possible to me otherwise.

"Now, do you want to battle, or can someone else give me an attack to dodge?" I asked, changing the topic and forcing myself to look away from Sarah's sparkling eyes. Mightyena and Servine, their gazes said 'You poor sap'.

"My magical leafy chases enemies down," Servine said, making me worry about dealing with that later. She has a lock on attack? Not cool.

Mightyena stepped forward. "My attacks are not as fast as Jake's lighting, though they can still be hard to dodge. Ghost type energy does not do that much to dark types, so getting hit by a shadow ball should not knock you out in one hit." he explained.

At this, I nodded. "Let's get to it. Shall I start dodging from the far end of the clearing?" I asked. He nodded. "That will be a start. For every one you dodge I want you to get closer. Maybe just a few paces. I will be firing constantly. Does that make sense?"

"Yes," I said, moving over to the edge of the clearing. I did not have to look around or even use my absol sense to know he was moving to the other side of the arena. My muscles were bursting with energy, which might make me a bit jumpy, I really did not know for sure, but I shut it down to be safe.

There was a slight standoff when we reached our places before my friend opened his mouth and a sphere of darkness shot out right at me at high speeds. I sidestepped this attack, having plenty of time. It crashed and exploded somewhere in the trees.

Mightyena fired his next one, and this time I jumped to avoid it. My leap led to me sliding to a stop in the dirt ten feet away from where I started as the shadow ball soared past. I realized how different these shadow balls were to normal. They usually were bigger and slower. Sarah's poor attempts to fire them had produced bigger spheres with a small white light in them.

These speedy shots would be more difficult to avoid, which probably was the point. I also noted that I had barely tried, and landed ten feet away. If I jumped with all I had, how far could I go?

Mightyena turned to fire at me. I still sidestepped this one to preserve energy. I took a few steps forward afterward. Mightyena started firing faster as well. Sidestepping no longer allowed me to move forward properly. The goal, I guess, was to get right up to Mightyena.

I jumped, dashed, and sprinted away from the dark bullets coming at me. My reflexes were put to the test now, as the distance became shorter. Surprisingly, I made it halfway with little effort, dodging spheres of destruction that exploded somewhere behind me.

 _I feel a sense of euphoria now… I am having fun! How am I having fun considering what this is, knowing I will get hurt?_

Maybe I simply have been integrated into this society. Maybe I was succumbing to pokemon instincts, considering that those instincts seemed to be far more advanced and specific. It was also possible that I would always have enjoyed this. Whichever was the case, I don't know if I care whether or not I find out.

having to dodge faster was getting tiring. Mightyena was now staggering his shots, making them fly at different angles to hit different parts of me, some even intentionally missing in the hopes I would jump right into one. And impressive display of destruction.

I was now ducking attacks and jumping as well. Mightyena was firing at me while I was in the air, and almost hit me because I could not change course in the air. Dropping to the floor almost got me hit, because my horn was almost high enough to get hit, which would have caused an explosion.

I was practically prancing about when I got within fifteen feet of Mightyena. I was bound to get unlucky eventually.

I did. I jumped when I should have ducked, and the sphere slammed into my underside, blasting me away and halfway across the clearing. The attacks stopped, thankfully. I had scrambled up quick fearing that the attacks would continue.

"Good job," Mightyena said simply, walking forward through the smoke. "That was impressive. Your instincts seem non-functional, considering the decisions you made of **where** to dodge, but you made up for it with that impressive brain in your skull." he praised.

"Yes, it seems that only the messed up instincts are working right now. Many things have been difficult, and I fear ignoring it in case I get another headache".

Shedinja floated up to us. " **Shedinja** ," he said. I had no idea what he was saying, or if he was asking something or what. It was time to play twenty questions, I guess. "You want to practice some techniques?" I asked. He immediately moved up and down.

"Lucky guess" Mightyena said. I nodded at that. My luck seemed to either be really good or really bad, never anything in between. Seems like today was a good day.

"Servine, if you aren't busy, could you train Shedinja or at least help him learn how to use a few attacks?" I asked. She nodded in response, and Shedinja floated over to her. "Why don't you take Shedinja somewhere where you won't get hit by stray shadow balls. Mightyena, I want to try this again, and then I need to learn a few attacks.

After Mightyena voiced his agreement, we faced off again. I wondered how he had enough power to keep firing like that, but he did not even seem tired. His attacks were faster this time, but I had something to try.

After making it to the middle of the clearing yet again, and the attacks increased, I experimentally put a shadow claw in the way, the same way I had been told I did once while confused. The shadow ball seemed to simply sink into the claw and was absorbed.

My next test was to slash at one, and it was sliced up before exploding seconds later. I could not be moving the claw when I did this, but it was a good thing to be able to do. I absorbed a few more shadow balls before I got back to dodging. As I jumped and ran around like a crazed dog, I had an idea.

I slashed at a shadow ball in a way that made it nearly explode, and leaped up. The smoke around me created a smokescreen and I tried to get to Mightyena as soon as I could.

Unfortunately, Mightyena's sense of smell was beyond excellent, and he knew just where I was. For my attempt at being clever, I earned a shadow ball straight to the face. My yelp of pain was pretty loud, and I noticed that I was flying into the air as Mightyena glowed white and began running about the field.

 _What the heck are you doing, Mightyena?_ I asked mentally before I noticed that there were more shadow balls sailing towards me. I was hit by two before I got smart and absorbed the others. The problem was, I was still freaking high.

A fall like this would kill a human, and I was afraid for my life before I remembered how resilient pokemon were. Even so, this was going to hurt. Maybe I would get up without too many problems… Maybe I should try to softland. Practice that.

I tried, I really, really tried, but my attempt at softlanding made my legs splay out the same way as when Servine smashed me, and it hurt just as much if not more. I groaned in pain as I struggled to get to my paws. My legs now screaming from the effort, I somehow managed to stand.

"Impressive. Not smart, but impressive," Mightyena said, coming through the smoke again, "my nose is better than that, Caleb. Maybe that could have worked on somebody else, but not me. That shadow claw trick is good, though."

"Thanks," I muttered, before walking towards the berry pile. I grabbed one of the delicious blue colored berries and chomped it down in seconds. At least I was getting comfortable with eating in this body. My wounds seemingly magically vanished as I finished consuming the fruit in front of me. The pain disappeared.

"You prepared to continue with some actual combat? The shadow claw trick is nice, and I figure that we ought to find out how much you can absorb. I can create some large shadow balls for you to try and absorb or blow up trying".

"Yes, I ought to learn something other than scratch to add to and my shadow claw. This attack can't hurt everything" I said, showing him my shadow claw. He nodded. I thought about what I knew. I could use bite, a dark type move that made my teeth longer and sharper, and added strength into my jaw. This allowed me to bite into things easily and painfully. Then, I knew scratch, a basic attack, and then shadow claw. Those were the basic moves I had, not mentioning swords dance.

"I should be able to teach you crunch," he muttered. I raised a brow, and he explained, "a version of bite that has more dark power, but has less of a chance of making a pokemon flinch and stop moving."

"Ah".

"Now, Caleb," Mightyena said, "We have been here a while, see how it is close to midday? Did you invite team Amber like you said you would? I do not- ...Wait…"

"Yes, Mightyena, I-" I began

 **BA-BOOM!**

"-Did" I finished.

 _Comic timing continues to slap me in the face..._

* * *

 **Hello, everyone! Welcome, all of you, to The Absolite Chronicles: Book Two: The Challenger! I hope you enjoy the read. For newcomers to the story, i do recommend reading the first before this. If you have read the first, continue reading and enjoy!**

 **Major, major thank you to Pigeoncracker for over-viewing the chapter and finding several errors that i have eliminated. You have been a big help.**

 **Now that this book runs parallel to another story, the chapters may come a bit slower than the breakneck pace anyone familiar with me knows well. If you are wondering what i mean, have a look at the new story i will send out eventually called "New Age: World of Pokemon".**

 **Either you found this on your own or read about it in the authors notes at the end of book one. Either way, Enjoy, Review please, and send me character bios if you want to. To any who have followed the first book, go ahead and follow this one too!**

 **Character bio setup is of course available below. Good day! And welcome to book two!**

* * *

 **Nickname:**

 **Age:**

 **Gender:**

 **Species:**

 **Personality:**

 **Background (this may be lengthy):**

 **Unique Aspect (optional):**

 **Other:**


	2. Chapter Two

**Hey, Everyone! Jango here. So, this took longer to come out than the first book's chapters did, and there are reasons for that such as proofreading. Regardless, the chapter should be better off.**

 **So let's jump to reviews shall we? if we forgot to address your review, feel free to contact Hyperjade and give him crap about it. I don't care. Now, where the heck is that paper... It's never around when i need it...**

 **Right. Here we go. _"To WyldClaw: Yes, the first chapter of The Absolite Chronicles book one is very discriptive in an attampt to show Caleb's tendency to be analytical. Also, i gave Sarah special strengths for a few reasons, including that she needed to be as different as possible from other absol, and that the character's battle styles would have been very similar otherwise. As to whether Caleb likes her, well, not so much nowadays."_**

 **I certainly would have talked more than Caleb did...**

 _ **"To Forestfleet: Yes, there were some character shenanigans in chapter four. If you have more to say, go ahead and say it"**_

 **Honestly, I have held that event over Caleb's head for years. It's rather funny how he thinks of it now.**

 _ **"To Mikey137: Yes, I made the attempt to re-introduce the characters, in case some people were to read this before book one (for whatever reason), and thank you."**_

 **Now Servine... That girl-**

 _ **"Spoilers, Jango"**_

 ***Jango sighs***

 ** _"To Northwest Brony: I am glad you think so. Thank you! Oh, and i got the message."_**

 ** _"To Phillip Harbindinger: That was what i was attempting to do, yes. Thank you"_**

 ** _"To Westernfail: Thank you, and yes, i will keep it in mind. I have pigeoncracker helping me with proofreading"_**

 **Right. That's all. Hyperjade wants me to remind you guys that reviews on the story "New Age: World of Pokemon" will only be addressed on that story. That said, read on! Get on with it.**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Amber**

⽯ **Caleb's POV** ⽯

I turned very slowly around to find whoever had dropped in on our conversation. I saw the outlines of four Pokémon with my Absol senses. I winced slightly, knowing I should've been using my Absol senses long before they even got here. I should have been paying better attention.

Looking at them, I recognized the red dragon Pokémon and a Magnezone, along with Absol. Absol, for his part, was standing on top of the floating Magnezone. I can't imagine that would be a pleasant flight.

"Hello. Team amber, I presume?" I asked the three. Where was Amber? Was she hiding or off doing something else?

"Yes, we are team Amber," Absol said, stepping off of Magnezone towards me, "I am Absol, Caleb and I know each other. Magnezone is here, and this is Charizard. Amber…"

Charizard was a fitting name for the dragon Pokémon in front of me. Magnezone and Absol both had an aura of power surrounding them, meaning they were not push-overs. Amber seemed to be the outline I sensed behind Charizard. The small and foxlike leader walked around the large dragon Pokémon.

"Hi," She timidly spoke up. She had a queer look in her eyes until she locked eyes with Charizard. Then her eyes seemed to solidify, no longer flitting about nervously. "My name is Amber. I am the leader of team Amber."

Right. The team was named after her. Despite the timid nature that I had first seen in her, it seemed she at least held some form of authority. Now that I could see her fully, she was a tiny, brown fox like Pokémon with a massive fluffy white collar. Apparently she was called an Eevee.

She wore a necklace that looked like an asterisk chain of sorts; black colored with eight points. Each point had a sphere on it, and each was a different color. There was a black, pink, a very light pink, yellow, red, blue, green, and light grey orbs contained on the necklace.

I wondered what each thing meant. It looked nice enough, but its purpose was lost on me. Whatever it was, it was clearly a personal treasure to her, considering she was wearing it at all. I have never seen another Pokémon wearing jewelry unless it aided combat. Maybe it strengthened her?

"Hello Amber, my name is Caleb. I am the leader of team Edge. I invited you here on the insistence of your own partner, Absol. I appreciate your team showing up, despite being somewhat late. I had hoped that we could train as one large group for the day, but we can do so now. No harm done, I assure you."

Amber looked at me strangely, tilting her head slightly to the left. "You remind me of Absol," she finally said, "He acts far more professional than anyone needs to be."

"Professionalism is very important," Both Absol and I retorted at the same time, before looking right at each other. I did indeed act similarly to Absol, but at times he had an annoying habit of being vague, something I would not do. That was one major difference.

Everyone else's eyes visibly widened at the situation you would expect from stereotypical twins. We were from difficult worlds for goodness sake. "With you all here, we had best discover what we already can do as a group; learning new tricks, abilities, and tactics would be preferred," I told my rather large group, a congregation of four teams. Absol picked up the verbal baton I had handed.

"We can decide how to train each Pokémon specifically today, we can plan the tomorrow," At that point, Absol and I took turns explaining and asking questions and assigning sparring partners.

"Charizard is well versed in strength and I sense a similar energy in Swampert. You two will work on physical attacks for a while."

"Sarah, it would be best for you to practice with Bastiodon. Both of you could improve your dodging and accuracy. How powerful of attacks should you use? Knock each other out. Literally."

"Magnezone, learn what kind of defenses that ghost Pokémon-"

"Shedinja. His name is Shedinja."

"Learn what type of defenses Shedinja has."

"Shedinja, Go along with that. It is best if you learn the boundaries of your new body."

"Raichu, face Servine. Use your scarf."

"Servine, your job is to learn how to dodge properly. Yes, I know you are fast; regardless, you should become as fast as possible. Jake, practice firing ahead of your opponents."

"Amber, your transformations need to become faster. Sarah may be able to test you, but for now it would be best for you to train switching between types somewhere quiet. I shall call you when Sarah is available."

"Machoke, train against the Tangela. Practice speed rather than strength. Tangela, do what you can to slow him."

"Mightyena, work with the two of us. I witnessed you training Caleb and I wish to know what you have been doing. Caleb, I shall personally train you, as you appear untrained. The best Pokémon to train an absol is another absol."

"Very well."

Mightyena walked towards us, while Metagross headed towards Shedinja. Sarah hesitated for a second before she was approached by Bastiodon. The Tangela faced Machoke, prompting me to turn to Mightyena as the others went off to do as they were instructed to.

"Can Machoke take on two Pokémon at once?" I asked Mightyena, who nodded in response. I looked to Absol next. "You said you were going to train me. Is there anything you need to know?"

"Yes," Absol replied, "Mightyena, what were you doing with that shadow ball barrage?"

"Evasion techniques. Difficult to do something with sheer power if you can't dodge anything," Mightyena replied. Absol nodded slowly in understanding.

"Now, we must strengthen his capabilities. I want you to go and try to launch a surprise attack against Amber. She needs to work on focusing on several things at once."

"Of course," Mightyena lifted his paw, then looked at me, "Good luck." And my friend walked away towards where Amber disappeared.

"Now," Absol said, turning to me, "Let's talk about your abilities. What do you know so far?"

"I tended to use a giant sword, before it recently broke of course. Thus, I have a small amount of abilities in terms of attacks. I know scratch and bite, as well as quick attack and swords dance."

"Swords dance is excellent and a necessary part of the move pool we possess; however, we must teach you to replace scratch with slash; you probably want to learn psycho cut; bite can be upgraded to crunch. I saw you using shadow claw, which is a good move to have. You absorbed a shadow ball, the only thing that was new to me. That impressed me," Absol stood still in thought for a few seconds before continuing, "Night slash is something you must learn as well."

"I've used night slash once or twice," I told him, "But it always drained me of my energy tremendously. My friends also told me that one time when I was… not in control of myself I actually launched a Night slash apparently. I am not certain how I did so."

There was a tense moment of silence, in which the sounds of lighting and other attacks striking or missing their marks reached our ears. There was a particularly violent explosion and Mightyena came sailing out of the trees and into the clearing, smoking and quite unconscious.

Mightyena had been told to track down Amber and surprise her. If she did that to him, she must be a very capable leader in terms of power. Now I had to learn what kind of person she was. I realized I had not moved from my spot.

Before Absol could protest, I had gone over to Mightyena and stuck a reviver seed into his mouth. It took a second for his wounds to heal enough to wake him up. "Are you in a suitable condition now?" I queried. Mightyena just nodded.

"Caleb, let us continue what we were conversing about," Absol called, prompting me to turn away from Mightyena and face him again, "I will teach you to use psycho cut, night slash, slash, and crunch."

"Mightyena offered to help me learn crunch," I remembered.

"Then I shall let him do that, later. From this day forward, unless you have learned slash, night slash, and psycho cut, and have grown to or past my expectations; you will train with me and only with me. The best to train an absol is another absol. The only I allow Mightyena to instruct you in using crunch is because he is clearly your friend. Do you understand?"

Did I understand that properly? He was helping me grow stronger, but did I want to be separated from my friends while training? I was very conflicted. I would need to grow stronger to properly take part in this tournament, but I wanted to socialize with my friends.

 _Socializing with friends… I do have friends now and I want to spend time with them. That means I have integrated myself into this society, completely different from the society that was in my world; one that I failed to integrate into. Does that mean I actually belong here?_

Mightyena saved me from having to make the decision. "Caleb, you will have plenty of time with us as a group later. You need to get stronger a lot faster and this is the best chance you've got. I don't think you should squander it."

After a moment, I gave a small smile and a nod of appreciation. Of course he was right. I had all the time in the world to be with friends. I could do this now. "Very well. What will we begin with?" I asked Absol, who seemed satisfied.

"First, let us find out why you cannot use night slash without becoming extremely fatigued. Generate the attack for me." I began to comply, feeling the powerful dark aura flowing through my horn and creating a pitch black blade slightly longer than my horn that was covered in seething darkness. Absol winced.

"Well, that would be why. The energy is extremely volatile, of course you use up a large amount of energy striking things with that. What are you actually doing?" Absol inquired. He had recognized the problem immediately. That was good for me.

"I simply send dark energy flowing into my horn," I answered. Absol looked at me strangely.

"Allowing it to flow, or forcefully moving it?"

"I drive it to where it needs to go," I responded, not understanding his point yet. Unless he was just deciding to be vague again.

"The reason the attack bursts with so much unused energy is because you try and send it to its desired location. If you simply relax and allow it to flow into your horn under its own power, you would use less energy but still have the same amount of power behind the attack. You simply chose which energy you wish to send through your horn. Observe."

With that, the dark energy in his horn gathered and formed a much more uniform blade of darkness, longer but not built out of swirling energy. It was energy built into the shape of a blade; stable and powerful. By relinquishing control, you gained power. Who would have known?

Before Absol could instruct me to try it for myself, I did so. I mentally envisioned the energy I wanted - dark energy - and instead of sending it into my horn with force, I let it do its own thing. With my senses, I could tell that it was forming in the same shape Absol's had bee; In fact, it was bigger. Absol's eyes widened at the sight.

"You first attempt? Impressive…" He muttered mostly to himself. I then realized I had nowhere to put this.

"Uh, what do I attack? I don't know how to pull this energy back…"

"You don't? You can force it back if you want."

Right. I should be able to. I focused on the energy, causing it to ripple and tried to pull it back. It seemed to sink back into my head and I felt my mind blur for a moment. That worried me a bit, but I was able to snap back into focus.

"That messed with my head a bit…" I admitted, shaking my head to clear it as I spoke. Absol seemed somewhat surprised.

"Really? I admit that it has a slight effect. Perhaps you are simply more susceptible to effects on the mind. I would recommend you avoid pulling the energy back at all in that case. Only generate power if you will use it. Build it again."

"What am I attacking?"

"Me."

Him? He wanted me to attack him? All right then. My attack was likely to not able to do any substantial damage. I had been informed that dark type attacks do little damage to other dark types anyway.

Letting the energy build in my horn was easy this time. I just had to decide which type to use. Each attack I used with my horn would probably involve a similar technique using different energy. Knowing Absol was waiting to be struck, I decided to try throwing it as I had been told I could.

Turns out my aims sucks.

I need to work on my aim, otherwise I could never hit anything. My night slash did release its self from my horn and expand outwards, growing until it was nearly twice my height as it flew, making so noise yet it still seemed deadly. The blade of energy sailed right past Absol at a relatively fast pace, who did not move an inch; however, his eyes did widen a fraction.

"You truly are capable of using night slash just as one would use psycho cut," he murmured. Apparently psycho cut worked the way my night slash did, whatever psycho cut was. I wondered what kind of move it was.

"Seems I missed though. My aim may be wretched, that is something I must work on, but I am more interested about how powerful that was. I was too busy judging your reaction to pay attention," I admitted. Absol gave me a strange look.

"You were more concerned with discovering who I am and what I am like? Let me remind you that you must treat this as a battle. From this point forward, I am your **enemy** and your enemy only. Even if you miss, you must be judging your attack power and understanding how much power you have left. Now, attack me again and if you miss, I will strike back." Absol threatened, getting into a ready stance.

Just great. I was in trouble if I missed, which I was sure I was going to do. If I hit him, he might retaliate anyways. He had not yet specified what he would do if my attack hit its mark.

I almost made the same mistake I did last time, but I pulled myself together and did it properly. Night slash covered my horn with its powerful dark aura, no longer unstable. I judged how much had missed him by and tried to think of how I could hit him this time. What angle to use and such. Once I had decided, I swung my horn at Absol.

One problem with the species I happened to become is the fact that I have to look away from my opponent to swing properly. I have to be fast and destructive, but still be able to get back on guard quickly. Such a strategy could bring about the end of an opponent quickly, but it could backfire just as easily.

But I was an absol and I could not change that. Even if I could, would I want to? I will never find the human world again, that is for certain. I have to make the best of it and I could probably get used to it eventually.

From what I could see out of the corner of my eye, the dark blade slammed straight into Absol's face, dug into the flesh just a tiny bit, and violently exploded. How had I gained such power? What had I gained that allowed me to do that? I thought Crystal Star had just weighed enough for me to cause damage; furthermore, was I not using a special attack right now? Did my night slash obey my physical strength regardless of the fact that it was long range?

My absol senses detected Absol darting away from the smoke in an odd direction; away from me. I stayed on guard, thinking that he would return to attack me. Instead, he waited by the edge of the clearing behind a large tree. He was attempting to confuse me when the smoke cleared and no Absol was to be found.

It would not work properly on me. I knew just where he was and he had better not forget that. Did he not know which type of sense I was best at? Maybe not. Maybe this was his test. Well, I intended to trick him instead.

When the smoke cleared, I saw something odd. Absol was standing in front of me. Yet, there was nothing there according to my senses. He began to speak as if the illusion was real. "You see that I am unharmed, Caleb. You have far to go with that power of yours. Now-"

"That's nice," I grumbled, before generating a shadow claw. I closed the distance between me and 'Absol', pouncing and horizontally slicing through the illusion, cutting it to ribbons.

What a dramatic way to let someone know you were not falling for it. Normally I am not dramatic. I needed to fight the urge to do so again later. I admit I had felt the slight joy of knowing I had defied the expectations of my new teacher.

"Hmm. That was impressive. I imagine you used your senses, meaning that you are best at mapping your surroundings. I learn from failure just as much as I do from success," Absol pondered absentmindedly.

It made sense that he could learn just as much from failure, but I refused to believe that he planned that. He was avoiding admitting defeat, yet he did admit that he was impressed. "What would you like me to learn next?" I asked now that I knew at least how to use that attack.

"Today you will perfect Night slash. I admit that I am damaged, but not as much as I can be. I want you to knock me out in one shot with the less effective attack. You will now begin use attack after attack until I am unconscious, then use a reviver seed on me or use heal pulse if someone knows it."

"That sounds a bit harsh to me, Absol, but I will comply. Also, Sarah knows heal pulse, but she is busy at the mo-"

 **BOOM!**

Sarah's cry of pain echoed through the clearing as she landed nearby me, smoking. Seriously, what was with people landing right next to me when I was talking to someone? It seemed Bastiodon nailed her with a flash cannon. One hit KO.

"I got her," Mightyena offered, placing a reviver seed in her mouth and stepped back. Bastiodon was prepared to apologize, but he was doing his job and I saw no reason he should do so. As Sarah woke up, I proposed what Absol had in mind.

"Sarah, I will need you to stand back and heal Absol when he is knocked out. Absol here will be taking attacks from me constantly. I hope you have enough power to keep using the attack" i instructed.

"Sure." Sarah replied dutifully, stepping back behind Absol. Mightyena walked over to Bastiodon, talking about basic combat training. I turned back to Absol, who was waiting patiently.

Before I could barrage him with powerful attacks, Amber the eevee showed up, slowly walking into the clearing. She looked apprehensive until she saw Charizard. He was currently trying to get Swampert in a headlock, and failing because Swampert was bigger. Both were coated in a white energy that looked like flames that moved downwards instead of upwards, apparently the move called strength.

"Hi," She said, coming up to me, but turning to face Absol, "You're helping this absol become stronger? That's nice of you," Amber turned to look at me, seeing how I was focused right on her eyes. Her eyes gained a sort of fragility, like she was afraid and trying not to show it. I did my best to tone the glare down.

"Hello," I greeted, "You must be Amber. I do not believe we have been fully acquainted."

"Nice to meet you," Amber replied, "Your nickname is Caleb, right?"

"My **name** is Caleb. It is indeed nice to meet you," I corrected, "I have heard stories about the accomplishments you and your team have made. The raichu there is Jake, and his partner Swampert is grappling with Charizard there. Those two are responsible for saving time."

"The mightyena and the servine are my good friends," I continued, "Sarah is the red absol there, and Shedinja is the impassive shell hovering near Magnezone. Those two are my teammates and friends. Mightyena and Servine are leaders of their own respective teams."

"Nice to meet you all," Amber said to the now quit group, most of whom nodded. A few greetings were passed. Then the training began anew.

"Back to the task at hand, Caleb," Absol told me. One thing nagged at me as I turned to Absol. Why was Amber not surprised when I insisted that Caleb was my actual name? I shook my head. I needed to focus on powering up my Night slash.

To take my mind off of it, I sent another Night slash at my fellow absol, and then another and another. He was taking little damage, probably because of that pesky type advantage/disadvantage system. It took seven strikes total to render Absol unconscious.

He looked roughed up and in pain, but it all soon disappeared after Sarah used heal pulse on him. He woke fifteen seconds after the healing. "Impressive that an absol could learn heal pulse," he complimented Sarah.

 _Oh, if only you knew what you could get into with flattering remarks like that…_

Absol had no feelings for Sarah, he was simply being polite. Good luck to him if he developed feelings. Sarah would either ignore him or become so overbearing he would run away as fast as he could.

"Thanks…" She muttered, giving me a meaningful look and falling back again.

"Again," Absol commanded, "Knock me out in six strikes this time."

Six? There was no way I had possibly improved that much just by using the attack a bit; nevertheless, I charged my night slash once more. At least the attack was working correctly.

To my utter shock, it took only five shots to render Absol unconscious this time. There should have been no way I could improve that quickly. My skills had been basically zero about three hours ago. How powerful was I, truthfully?

 _Well, I felled dozens of enemies with that sword. They fell like dominoes against it, but it would be best not to try and find another._

After that reminder, I accepted that I was indeed powerful, but nevertheless it should not have been possible to improve that quickly. Absol had his doubts as well.

"That was interesting. I expected you to fail to knock me out in six strikes this time; instead, you improved so much that I could not maintain consciousness after five. That is very impressive, Caleb."

I simply stared at the sky thoughtfully. "I do not know why my strength improved so quickly. I was capable of dealing extensive damage with my old blade, but the improvement I seem to show astonishes me. Perhaps… I am getting used to making the energy flow on the right path and every time I forge the path just a little better."

"Perhaps." Absol replied.

❊ **Amber's POV** ❊

I walked back to the location where I had been practicing transformations. I hesitated to begin again for a while as I considered the others. That Jake fellow had apparently been human before as well, being the Pokémon who saved time along with his friend.

The others I had met had different qualities. Swampert was powerful enough to give charizard trouble in a fight, and had been slightly stronger than him in the strength contest they had been involved in.

The bastiodon was ridiculously powerful, even if he was incredibly slow. He could knock most of us out in a single hit with that flash cannon. Mightyena's other partner—Machoke—was quiet yet strong. The guy had been tossing the tangela about like it was nothing.

I had not really met Servine yet, though she was spoken highly of by the others. Mightyena, for his part, had been asked by Absol to ambush me. Such training make sense to me, considering I had to be ready. Mightyena was the only other Pokémon from here to see my abilities, the same abilities I used to send him flying.

And then there was Sarah. She was an interesting person, constantly glancing at the other absol, Caleb. He was oblivious, no, he **pretended** to be oblivious by the look of it. He had no interest in the girl; however, it was not based on any sort of color difference. Caleb had never once looked at her in disgust or something.

Shedinja was quiet of course. I had seen one when we travelled to find Rayquaza and stop the meteor from crashing into the planet. The whole ordeal had been quite odd for me. The shedinja I had met only said his name as he tried to mow us down with shadow balls, not realizing that I was a normal type and took no damage from the attack. It had been a dungeon Pokémon, so that makes sense. This one, however, still could only say his name.

And then there was Caleb. He was very similar to Absol, but something stuck out. He had insisted that his name was Caleb.

 _Name. Just like I had when I woke up in this world with no memories…_

It could simply be a coincidence of course, I had met a few Pokémon who did not like the naming system before and I honestly had a problem with it as well. Without specific names, how could one speak to a crowd of a species properly?

The thing about Caleb that made it very difficult to meet his eyes was the way he looked at me. No, that is not accurate.

 _The way he looks_ _ **through**_ _me._

He saw everything about everything around him, even better than Absol. Everything I said mattered to him, everything I did mattered, anything that happened around him mattered. This was because he was calculative. It was freaky how much he knew about me by just looking at me for a few seconds. I would not be surprised if he knew who I was, unless he was actually another clueless boy inside that analytical shell.

He unnerved me, which was for sure. I did not want him to learn too much about me. If the others at my home town were anything to go by, Pokémon did not like humans much. I was afraid, very afraid to tell him who I was. Would he judge me?

The only time I felt safe around others was when Charizard was nearby. He always kept me safe, and he knew it. As a result of me being otherwise uncomfortable around others, he grew very protective of me.

I hoped that one day, I could be a normal person, but I knew deep down that was unlikely, if not impossible for me right now.

 _How is a human supposed to make her way in a world of Pokémon anyhow?_

⽕ **Sarah's POV** ⽕

I watched in amazement as Caleb's night slash took only four hits to take Absol out. The improvements were slowing down, but he was still improving nevertheless. As for my own power, it was draining quick. I used heal pulse fifteen times today, something that tends to result in exhaustion

Even though I was exhausted, I was too busy watching Caleb train himself physically to care. Watching the muscles ripple under his fur, watching the determination on his face as he struck Absol again and again; relentless and ridiculously powerful. I always loved watching him.

I had decided that I should restrain myself during training, but worded my thoughts as a deal. Caleb had walked straight into it without knowing, or did he? He had basically given me permission to be as close as possible otherwise. Clever me. Of course, he could train from dawn to dusk if he really wanted to, but he would never be able to escape me forever.

Every time he launched a night slash, it was like he was launching a worry or fear instead. He slowly became more confident, like Caleb was supposed to be. He was becoming more and more like the person he was when he originally came to this world.

Caleb threw another night slash. It was impressive that he could launch such an attack. Night slash had never been a long range attack.

Just watching him was good enough for me, considering that my job was to fix Absol up after each time he was knocked out. This training seemed to be a bit odd to me, but I was willing to let it go. My power was pretty top notch, so I simply had to learn to aim properly, which I also was good at. If only Caleb could see what he meant to me…

 _He does see. He simply pretends not to._

 _What do I mean to him?_

Right now, I am no more than an obsessive, compulsive friend in his eyes. I am his teammate in his eyes, nothing more. He was even reluctant to call me a friend; I am not sure why. Why doesn't he like me? He used to joke around with me when I first met him, and his anger towards me had been part of his ploy to keep me away…

Maybe he was still avoiding me because he was feeling guilty? When he had not been in his right mind, he had tried to kill me. Would he be feeling guilty enough to fear it happening again? Why else would he avoid me now?

Maybe I could find the answers to these questions. Maybe I could ask him, if he ever bothered to answer me.

But I knew, looking at the face he was making, that he was recovering and soon he would joke around and be himself again. His recovery would be exactly what I was waiting for.

But for now, I needed to do what I said I would do: Stay out of Caleb's space while training. I hoped that I could make it.

⽯ **Caleb's POV** ⽯

Well, that had been an interesting day for me. I knocked Absol out dozens of times, improving my strength every single time I landed a blow. Absol never taught me slash or psycho cut, I still had little idea what those attacks were. I could always ask Sarah, yet…

 _I hesitate to speak with Sarah because I am afraid she will invade my space._

I needed to get past that fear. Sarah would invade my space no matter what. If I had a question for her, I needed to ask and deal with the consequences. Later, of course, because right now all of us; Jake, Swampert, Mightyena, Servine, Bastiodon, Machoke, the tangela, Magnezone, Absol, Charizard, Amber, Shedinja, Sarah and I were entering a cafe of sorts, owned by a spinda.

"Hello, Spinda," I greeted the Pokémon twirling about behind her counter, "So… We may need a bigger table…"

Spinda stopped, much to the relief of everyone present.

See, Spinda has this weird ability that when she is dancing or twirling, our eyes seem to be physically stuck on her. We can't look away at all. Except for Shedinja for whatever reason. He was fine.

She took in the massive group behind me. "Oh, I see!" she responded with her usual cheer, giving a twirl that forced anyone with her in their peripheral vision to turn their heads towards her. I don't think it was on purpose, but it was powerful nonetheless.

"Well, let's see if we have one in our storage for eleven or more… Shedinja and Magnezone can probably float above it or something. Let's see if we can get one big enough for all of you at least though…"

Spinda teetered and twirled over to what looked like a small closet, way too small for tables, but regardless of the impossibility she opened it up and pulled a table halfway out, far too big for the closet. One thing I had not explained about this world is that physics seem to be optional or something. Things were bigger on the inside all over the place, and apparently because of magic.

Magic. There was no such thing on my birth world, just as there was no such thing as Pokémon. Spinda shook her head, muttering "Nope" and pushing it back in. Then, she dragged out an even bigger one! This one was also apparently still too small. After five tries of reaching into the dark cabinet, she pulled out a table she was clearly satisfied with.

With strength I could not comprehend coming from such a small Pokémon, she rolled the thing on her own into the room and put it down in the corner, setting it up and such. When it was done, she allowed us to get near it and see if we all fit. Swampert and Charizard took up most of the room, but we all fit. The two of them stood at opposite ends of the table.

The rest of us took our places, already beginning to talk. There was no need to get drinks today, even though Spinda made the most **excellent** drinks out of whatever you brought her. The service was free as well, much to my surprise.

We were all talking about the recent events and other mindless chatter. Shedinja and Magnezone floated above the table, completely silent as they looked down at us while we talked. Magnezone was not very talkative and Shedinja couldn't talk in the first place,

The rest of us talked different amounts. Servine and Mightyena talked plenty about the different exercises they took part in; Servine happy about it and Mightyena feigning some boredom. He was quite happy as well, he just didn't want to show it.

As for Sarah, she was as close as possible to me and I routinely had to stop her from coming any closer than that. Pretending to be having cheerful thoughts was draining me. Regardless, I had basically given her permission to do this to me.

 _I am going to die prematurely purely from stress._

The tangela were talking to Machoke about their training together. Apparently they had only been able to restrain Machoke after he had tossed them about for a good two hours. Then they had done some other activities. They were arguing about something right now.

Shedinja, Magnezone and I all watched in silence as Sarah interrupted the nice conversation Servine and Mightyena by starting an argument with Mightyena.

 _Oh my goodness, everyone here is a child._

"I **can't** believe you got knocked out in one hit!"

"Yeah? **You** try taking an attack you couldn't see coming from Amber then!"

I turned towards Absol, who sat next to me. "I swear these guys grew up at least a little bit when I entered their lives, but now they seem like children again." He nodded in agreement as he watched the increasingly heated argument between Sarah and Mightyena. Servine began to notice the commotion at the other end of the table, fidgeting slightly as she became increasingly more agitated.

"It seems Servine will interfere soon," he replied.

"Yes, she has changed as well, perhaps the most drastically. Personally, I believe she does not truly know what to do with herself. Nowadays she scares those two whenever they get out of hand. I think she enjoys it. Observe." I told Absol, nodding my head towards Servine who was leaping onto the table silently, unnoticed by the quarreling duo.

"Is there a problem?" Servine ground out in a tone that could freeze over the distortion world. For a second, I was afraid that I might have to interfere before she seriously hurt them. She towered above them, being on the table. I was slightly amusement at the antics of my friends. Sarah the hotheaded love-struck absol; Mightyena, the powerful and loyal yet irritable wolf; and Servine, the warrior and the conflicted one.

They were all good friends, each for different reasons, and now their antics were on display for all to see.

"I see…" Absol murmured after watching the scene for a bit and then began a conversation with Jake. I eventually grew bored and began to speak with Amber and her teammates. From what I could tell, Charizard was a good friend with the foxlike Pokémon and very protective.

I figured that because every time her eyes flickered with uneasiness, Charizard would move his large wings a bit, blowing some air through the room and Amber would relax a little. When **I** was the one to make her uneasy—by accident, of course—Charizard would give me a glare that said _If you hurt her, I will make you wish you were never born._

Not an act of affection, but an act of friendship. I wondered just how long this guy had known Amber? Maybe the big dragon took her in and protected her or something. Actually, what was there to be protected from?

Perhaps Charizard simply wanted to keep Amber from being uneasy around others. She clearly trusted him more than anyone else. Again, I could only speculate why.

 _It's not smart to assume anything._

Charizard explained who they were to me. It was certainly impressive to hear about them saving their 'continent' from a meteor. Note the air quotes because all of these 'continents' are about the size of Madagascar. Someone told me about a place much bigger than the others, about ten times the size, but this planet has barely any landmasses, or nobody has found the massive continent. I had reasons to believe this planet was about the same size as my birth planet because of the length and amount of days in a year, and similar seasons.

Absol would be interested in that theory, I was certain of it. Maybe I would tell him later. Maybe I could tell everyone later. For now, I was content learning everything I could about these people.

Magnezone spoke in the same way that Officer Magnezone did. Charizard can not only take a lot of damage before he is defeated, he can deal quite a bit of damage as well. Amber was apparently the most powerful on her team, which I completely believed after Mightyena got himself one shot by whatever attack she used. Absol told me that judging by the power I showed, I would be his equal or higher by the time the tournament started, even if we took a job one or two of the days.

An interesting thing to hear, considering that I still had two moves to go before I had a half decent move pool, according to Absol. I found myself actually anticipating learning the techniques that would lead to my victory. I used to hate the idea of fighting. What the heck happened to me?

That would be my next topic of conversation. Changes. "Right then," I said aloud so everyone could hear me, "Servine, please stop tormenting those two, I think they have had enough. Thank you. Now, a lot of us have experienced some… changes."

Amber winced at that momentarily. What did that mean? Charizard glared at me, and now **I** winced. Regardless, I continued. "I have personally seen plenty of change, and I am not certain why. Servine and Mightyena, I noticed that you both act a lot differently since a week ago, not that it is a bad thing, but you seem to have completely changed."

"What are you getting at, Caleb?" Mightyena asked. I looked at everyone in the room.

"Right now, every single one of us, with the possible exception of Amber's team, are not even remotely the same people that we were about two months ago. I am a prime example of this. I find myself enjoying fighting far more than I used to and I anticipate growing stronger. I used to have problems with short term memory until recently," I answered, and all but team Amber clearly understood why.

"And then Servine," I continued, "You are clearly a different person from the one I first met, you've even changed more than Mightyena. Sarah might have been completely different if she had not finally left that crystal cave. My point is, all of us change and for us, the change has been very quick. What impresses me the most-"

I took a deep breath and continued. "What impresses me the most is that despite all of us being completely different people from when we first met, we are still good friends and that speaks volumes- for everyone."

My closest friends knew I meant 'for the world', but my motivational speech for the day struck everyone off guard. What was I trying to accomplish with this rather abrupt speech? I think I got them thinking for themselves, of course.

"That's right," Mightyena added, "Before I met you guys, I was not even close to being a good person. I'd like to think I improved at least somewhat." Servine nodded in agreement as he continued. "I never really knew who I wanted to be for a while, and honestly, I am still asking myself that question."

Sarah looked at me with admiration in her eyes, which I met with a steady gaze of indifference. I wanted to be polite enough that I could meet her eyes, but if… no, **when** she got the wrong idea, I wanted to avoid causing a problem. She started talking to me.

"If I hadn't met **you** , you mean," she said sweetly, giving me a nuzzle which was safely in the category of **unwanted contact**.

The others seemed slightly confused as I slammed her head into the table. I simply returned their inquisitive stares and waited patiently for their talking to resume. I let go only after ten seconds had passed. Charizard raised an eyebrow, Amber leaned back slightly, Magnezone moved back a few feet, Absol just looked on impassively, but if he was anything like me—which I did not doubt—he was probably having mixed feelings about the action.

After a minute of silence, Amber hesitantly spoke up and changed the topic. "I just overheard the group of poochyena talking about evolving before the tournament."

"I heard that too," Mightyena replied, looking over at me. I blinked uncomprehendingly at my friend, who explained. "Poochyena evolve into mightyena. In other words, they will look very similar to me." Mightyena explained. I just blinked again.

Servine decided to explain the situation to our new comrades. "Caleb has never seen evolution besides Shedinja, so he is still confused about the subject. He also has some trouble distinguishing between Pokémon of the same species."

"The only reason I can tell Sarah apart from Absol is because she's a different color," I added helpfully. The others nodded at that, amazing me. How were these Pokémon so accepting of me?

"Well," Mightyena began, interrupting my budding mental rant, "Team pooch will probably go along with it, though they might want to change their team name. Then there will be four Mightyena's about. Caleb might have some trouble…"

Oh, dear…. What was I supposed to do? What could I do? "Is there anything that you could do to make it easier for me? I would appreciate something to make life easier, it's already hard enough," I stated. The others appeared thoughtful, even Charizard and Swampert.

"Well, neither Servine nor me have been given nicknames," Mightyena ventured, and I immediately became wary. I was not good with names, I knew that much. At least, I thought I wasn't. Servine stopped my train of thought again.

"Yes, you Caleb. I can feel the hopeless pessimism rippling off of you," she said, jumping in front of me on the table, making me look up at her, "Well, cut it out!"

I was shocked at her reaction. How could she read me so easily? Was I wrong in thinking I was no good at naming? "But I don't know typical Pokémon names very well," I protested. This caused Charizard to raise an eyebrow again.

Sarah nudged me. "Hey, I like my name!" she insisted. Of course she did, but Servine gave me a nod, signifying that a human name was a good thing, and I was good at naming things. I felt conflicted again.

But I guess with a powerful Pokémon that could launch me to next week any time she felt like it hovering over me. "Sure… let me think about what you should be called. Servine, Mightyena? Would you like a nickname?"

"Sure!" Servine replied excitedly, a smile on her face. The others were smiling a bit as well, at least, those that could smile. The tangela, Magnezone and Shedinja had no mouths that were visible or nonexistent so they couldn't, and just Amber seemed too preoccupied with her own thoughts to notice. Even Charizard had a smirk on his face.

"Err… Let's start on Mightyena. I think I might be able to think of something that would go along with your personality."

 _So, let's see… Male, dog-like, incredibly loyal, can be amusing at times… What person does he remind me of? Or character? I could call him Shadow, after Shadow from Homeward bound, but that seems too common for a dark type..._

I considered whether there was a word that meant constant and loyal. I was certain I had heard one before. If I tried really hard, I should be able to recall it...

 _Let's see... Ah, Daemyn. That was the word. Sounds half decent as well._

"Would you like the name Daemyn?" i asked of Mightyena, who gave a grin. He clearly liked it. "Sounds great, and it's not something typical like Shadow or something. I like it." he replied.

"Sounds great!" Servine complimented Shadow, "What about me?"

 _Hmm… Likes summoning weapons out of thin air, could probably make all sorts of things with that energy… Tends to frighten two bickering people, destructive and quick, and sometimes acts very different than normal… Just like…_

"Erza," I said suddenly, startling Servine, "It's not common and it fits well."

Servine- No, Erza gave a smirk. "That sounds good. Great, we actually have nicknames now. Now that that's over with, if you see four mightyenas, just use Daemyn's new nickname to figure out which one is which! That will work for you."

She was right. Now I actually might now make a fool of myself. Daemyn and Erza, Mightyena and Servine. They both seemed happy enough as well. Good for them. "Well then, Erza and Daemyn. What is the next point of conversation?"

"Perhaps we could discuss tomorrow before you guys have to go back to the guild," Daemyn ventured, causing me to remember that we did indeed have a curfew of sorts.

"Right. Tomorrow," I said "I assume Absol wants to continue to train me?"

"Yes." Absol replied.

Then Sarah spoke up. "You know… When we went to the Tiny Meadow dungeon, the ground there rebuilt itself constantly over time. If we trained there, we could go all out and destroy everything, and the ground should repair itself. That way, we don't have to worry about destroying everything, like we almost, well, like we destroyed the forest.

We all sweat dropped at that. We had done quite a bit of damage to that forest, it was almost a shame. Team Amber were quite interested in this dungeon that could repair itself. The general idea was that we could certainly train there instead.

"Sarah needs to do more training herself, so we had best bring plenty of items to heal ourselves and others… Is anyone running out of reviver seeds?" I asked. The others shook their heads no.

After some small talk, we determined that it was time for bed. Sarah, Shedinja and I departed for the guild while the others got up and prepared to go to their respective homes.

The guild was quieting down as people waited for dinner. We happened to be just in time because dinner was called as we walked into the bottom floor. Our stomachs growled loudly. As I had discovered before, it seemed that the Pokémon body did little to stop sound. In other words, we were not very soundproof at all.

Dinner was a lovely affair, with pecha and oran berries and a few other assorted berries. All wonderfully delicious. I wondered what tomorrow would bring. How strong could I become? Would I truly be strong enough, fast enough, and durable enough to last in this tournament? Why did it matter so much to me? I had changed so much, and it hurt to have done so. Who was I now? Was I someone I could respect before I changed?

 _Maybe I will find out, someday..._

* * *

 **Hey, guys. This is Hyperjade. Boy, what a chapter. This took me a while to put together and then there was a few things that took some time, but i believe the quality of this chapter should have increased dramatically compared to the previous chapters.**

 **As usual, please review and follow and all the like. I appreciate every review i get. Thank you.**

 **Character bios are still open. Of course they are.**

* * *

 **Nickname:**

 **Age:**

 **Gender:**

 **Species:**

 **Personality:**

 **Background (this may be lengthy):**

 **Unique Aspect (optional):**

 **Other:**


	3. Chapter Three

**Hello, everybody! Time for The Absolite Chronicles once more. This is Hyperjade. Jango is currently greeting someone he hasn't seen in quite a while. He'll probably thank me later once she makes him do it.**

 **Anyways, I'll be focusing on the reviews today. First up, we have... Consuming Flame. I haven't read these recently... Okay. I appreciate your review for book one. Your compliments have been noted though I was experiencing some doubts. I'll get to work on that. I would appreciate any reviews you are willing to send.**

 **Jango's not here, so I can't make him sort these while I talk... Er... ZLAXE. I'm glad that you loved the first book. hang on, I have your next review for book two around here somewhere... Oh. Nice overview of the characters there, ZLAXE. I'm glad I could get people including you ready for more right out of the gate. There's a lot to do for these characters.**

 **Great yo see you again, Phillip Harbindinger. Yes, I thought the first games needed a spot in this story. There was no way that I could have not included Amber the eevee.**

 **Raven6229: I still would like to receive these character bios by PM... But as for your review, I appreciate it very much. Thank you for your praise. I do have a plan for Dialga, so... As for PMD 3, you'll just have to find out. This is a tournament that pokemon from every region enter, after all.**

 **Raven-the-Dragon6229: For all the praise I'm hearing for those particular three stories, I'm going to have to check Past Sins out. I'll add it to the list. Yes, Jake was the other human.**

 **Okay! That's it for reviews, I think. Chapter three of The Absolite Chronicles is a go. One thing I should warn you about is that there is now a schedule for chapters. Every week, even though it may not be exact, I will be uploading a chapter for New Age or The Absolite Chronicles. The stories updated will change every time, alternating constantly. I wanted to put that out there so that you guys are prepared. Now, go ahead and continue reading, everybody!**

 **Oh, and thanks to Pigeoncracker for proofreading and editing my chapter. Thanks for your help!**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: The Night**

 **❊ Amber's POV ❊**

I sleepily walked into the place that was going to be our home for however long this tournament would take. Then we would go back to our home, back to where people knew us, back to where people did not like us. Well, did not like me. The team was adored as one of the most efficient and dependable teams out there, but individually…

I curled up on a bed of hay in the middle of an intricate dirt house. It had few places to sleep, so we all ended up a bit cramped. Charizard also laid down, and Absol stayed up for a while, as he always does. He never sleeps long, preferring to stay on guard after the last time a ghost type out for vengeance snuck into the house. Magnezone never had to sleep anyways. I always told Absol to go to sleep because Magnezone can handle keeping watch. He always did it again the next night. He would wear himself out soon.

Sighing, I uncurled myself and walked over to the doorway where Absol was. "Go to sleep, Absol. Magnezone has this and I think it's much safer in this continent than the last one," I said, "You have training tomorrow and the next day, and so on. Get some sleep."

"The last time I wasted time sleeping, you were attacked by a ghost type!" he protested, "I won't let that happen again. If you can't be safe in the night, someone needs to protect you!"

"Magnezone is always alert," I pointed out, "And you need to sleep. Magnezone doesn't."

"But-"

FLASH!

Absol crashed to the ground immediately, sound asleep. I flicked my much thinner tail in slight annoyance. "That," I told Absol, even though he could not hear me, "Is a good reason to make my transformations faster. I hate using hypnosis on you, but you need to rest. Every night, you need to sleep."

I reverted to my normal eevee form and dragged Absol into the building. I laid him down on his assigned bed and went to my own bed. It was time to sleep. We had a big day tomorrow.

"Good night, everyone…" I whispered before allowing myself to fall into a deep sleep.

I always have dreams. Not only that, but they are always the same. Tonight was no different as I found myself in a place with no definite color, shifting and glowing around me. As every dream I have, one person was always there to talk to me.

 _"Hello, Amber,"_ A voice said to me, prompting me to turn around to see Gardevoir.

"Gardevoir!" I exclaimed, glad as always to see my good friend. It did not matter that she had died many, many years ago; she was alive in my dreams. A ghost. A friend.

 _"Hello, child,"_ Gardevoir said warmly, _"It seems to me that you have something to tell me?"_ boy was Gardevoir observant. I must have had a certain expression, or maybe it was because she was psychic. It was probably the latter. Charizard makes me feel safe, but Gardevoir makes me rather talkative.

"Yeah, I do. I met some pokémon today from several different teams, and the leader of one… It felt weird being around him. It was as if he was staring right through me when I was talking or listening to him or someone else. It was as if he could tell everything about me, and he was an absol. Can some absols read minds or something?"

Gardevoir seemed to ponder this. _"No, I do not believe any are capable of such. Perhaps he is simply observant and analytical. Do you fear being hated by others again because of your origins?"_

"I guess…" I replied. Being different from others tended to give me a bad rep in the town where I had managed to find myself. People don't like it when others are different, that much I know. Even if you save an entire continent from a meteor, being different makes a permanent impact on the other residents. I was different in so many ways it would be so easy for others to judge me as they always have where I come from.

Even though that isn't the first place I'm from.

"I fear that more than anything," I responded.

 **⽯ Caleb's POV ⽯**

I walked into our room, Sarah trailing me. Shedinja was already there, floating silently and facing the direction of the door. He did not speak. I felt a little sad at the fact that he could no longer speak properly. I could only imagine the turmoil he was experiencing inside that shell.

Nevertheless, I had to sleep. Tomorrow I had another day of launching attack after attack, this time inside a dungeon where the ground would repair itself. A good idea on Sarah's part; however, I had just recently made the mistake of complimenting Sarah about it. Sarah, being the love-struck pyromaniac that she is, was likely going to try to be super close to me tonight.

My theory was proved correct when Sarah began to push her bedding closer to mine. I gave a scowl at that. In no way, did I need her to sleep so close to me. Shedinja tried to get in the way, and I was very grateful for that, but Sarah gave him a glare that prompted him to get out of there. I know he is apparently invulnerable, but Sarah would not tolerate anyone getting in between her and her supposed boyfriend.

 _Figures…_

I laid down and decided not to let it bother me for now. I needed sleep. If Sarah wanted to delude herself with fantasies, that was just fine, as long as I did not wake up with her face in mine.

Sleep took a while to come around, but eventually it did. As darkness overtook me, it was replaced by light yet again, as it always does. As a human, I never used to have dreams. Now, as an absol, I did. Perhaps it is simply because I literally have a different brain. That might be it.

Yes, I was confused about the concept as well.

I opened my eyes to see my room. The bed I was on was a mix of a human bed and a typical pokémon bed; it worked nicely for me. This was my dream world. The people in it were alive, things happened for them while I was awake. I could not explain it, but I could enjoy it. The reason I liked this place so much…

…was not here at the moment. Normally, I 'awoke' in this place to be pounced on. Little kids, loving to play and never giving me a moment to myself, and despite enjoying having time to myself, I felt like a parent to the two of them. Where were they today?

 _Probably somewhere they either aren't supposed to be, or are messing with one of the others…_

I let out a toothy yawn and stood up. This bed was so much more comfortable than the one that I slept in. It took me an extra five minutes to get out of there because the kids were essentially my alarm clock.

"Gee, I'm up, I'm up…" I mutter to myself. Normally, I would be telling the kids that. Where were they then? I decided the best way to find out was to wander the house first. If Riley decided to give me a break and entertain them while I was about to wake up, I did not know whether to be grateful or confused as to why he would put himself in that position.

There were no crashing sounds inside, though a few of the books had toppled out of the shelves. Over the days, I had filled the shelf with stories I could remember. For whatever reason, whether I remembered every word of the book or not, I could tell every word was correct. Somehow, the books were more accurate than my memory of the books.

I concentrated, causing the books to float up and slot back into their respective locations on the bookshelf. I may not have a versatile body, but in my dream world, I have as much power as I need. I can change or move things around as I please with just a flick of my thoughts.

 _Being a quadruped always limited me…_

I then walked out, the door opening on its own. My absol sense did not detect anything remotely like those who live in this world within the house. As the door shut behind me, I did in fact hear a ruckus. I had forgotten that I had once soundproofed the building because I needed some relaxation and Riley and Sheila were having a sparring match, which Sheila won easily. Riley may be tough, but handling a giant adaptive tank with an AI is not exactly his strong suit.

Speaking of those two…

The aforementioned ruckus was Riley running towards the house, seeing me, and relief crossing his face. Sheila was chasing him down, her side turrets red instead of blue, which she did to show she was pissed off.

"She's trying to kill me!" Riley exclaimed as he barreled towards me.

" **Affirmative**." Sheila confirmed behind him. She sounded angry, very angry. One thing smart to make sure not to do: anger a giant war vehicle. I leapt to stop the potential fight before it happened, creating distraction. Sheila slammed into an invisible wall and Riley found himself safe for the moment.

"What is going on here?" I demanded, not looking to deal with another scuffle. They turned to me. Most people would flinch at a tank turret swiveling to point at them, but that was simply how Sheila demonstrated she was looking at you. Riley's own look would unnerve some, but the silence and the single paned sunglasses did nothing to stop me from staring him down.

"I asked you two a question," I repeated. I was always a no-nonsense kind of person, but today I had seen plenty of fighting, plenty of it my own. I was in no mood to watch things blow up right now. Instead, the next event surprised me.

" **He called me fat** ," Sheila stated simply, causing me to mentally facepalm. Sheila was becoming more like the steryoypical girl every day. She was progressing, that was for certain. However, she was still an AI.

"No, no I did not! I mentioned that you were bigger than the rest of us!"

" **Same thing…** "

I sweat dropped at this as the two of them caught themselves in a massive argument. Riley had passed a comment that was completely factual in nature, and Sheila had considered it an addition, the tank sounded pissed off, yet she also sounded… self-conscious? It's difficult to tell with robots.

"Enough! Enough!" I yelled, causing the two of them to look at me once more, "Sheila, Riley meant absolutely nothing insulting about that, even if he insulted you. Riley, work on your wording a bit, or at least avoid mentioning size at all. I don't have time for fighting right now."

 _Even if Sheila could crush us all just by rolling over us…_

I kept that thought to myself. Sheila would not appreciate that. I did not know her well enough to know how she would take it. At least the tank was becoming closer to full sentience. When she started out, she was mostly protocol, only trying to kill Sarah and Amaterasu.

Riley seemed surprised by my outburst. When I say I don't need something to happen, I don't want it to happen, period. Both of them realized that. While they were realizing I wanted them to play nice, I realized a freaking tank just got insulted and accidentally called fat, and then the tank felt bad about it.

 _My life is weird…_

"Caleb!" two voices cried out as I was pounced on. A smile broke out on my face as two little absol 'knocked' me down. I fell on the ground to humor the two of them of course. Squealing with delight, they looked down into my eyes.

One absol was like me, the other was like Sarah: Black and red respectively. I smiled at their antics. These kids were the first thing in my dream world, and the only thing I never created myself. They had already been there; so innocent, so childish. They were the perfect people to get me to loosen up. When I found this place, they had told me that their names were in fact Caleb and Sarah.

The two of them were just adorable in every way. Keeping them safe was a full time job here. I smiled as they started begging me to play with them. "Come on, play with us! It's great you see you! We want to go the lake!"

My mind spinning from the multitude of statements headed my way; I tried to answer each one. "Sure, of course I'll play with you," I responded warmly, "It's great to see you too. Sure, we can go to the lake today."

They cheered and ran towards the platform standing near the house with fancy crystals floating about it. It was a teleporter of sorts. I had designed it and such, though it would not work in the real world. It works because I want it to work. That was all.

I picked myself up and padded over to the teleporter. Riley followed me to it and the four of us stood in there. I looked at Sheila, wondering if she would come with us.

" **I think I will drive there on my own** ," Sheila muttered, looking right at Riley with what was probably a death glare, then turned and rolled away. As Riley looked away, I looked up at him. It was awkward having to look up at humans, but whatever.

"Her feelings are compromised, Riley. Even if it was unintentional, you should probably apologize," I told him before we left. When he just frowned, I reinforced it. "I mean that, you should apologize."

He looked rather doubtful, but I stared him down for a moment. The kids had gone strangely silent. I turned to see them looking rather scared and my eyes softened at the sight. "Shall we go?" I offered before I looked into the crystals surrounding us. Different images replaced reflections, showing places that I had other dream teleporters. One was a beautiful lake.

I selected that image with my mind and with an unnecessarily fancy sequence of lights and spinning crystals, we found ourselves at the lake. That is, the lake at the top of the mountain. Yeah, you heard me right.

The beautiful lake was actually supposed to be freezing cold in the real world, but I had decided that it was not worth it to be accurate. We needed a place to swim anyhow. As usual, the kids squealed with delight and ran towards the water yet again, and I myself looked at my little world.

We were atop a mountain, a duplicate of Crater Lake within my old world. Quite the beautiful place, though you would not want to swim in the hypothermic temperature water. Below us were several different types of forests I had placed, the house barely visible down near the bottom, and a meadow next to it.

It was beautiful. It made sense for me to think so, because I built it, but I had been assured by the others that they thought it was nice as well. I always felt unsure about compliments, because I was used to said compliments being paltry and forced.

 _I suppose I still have a ways to go before one could say I have lightened up._

I was called down the crater by small Caleb and Sarah, and I obediently came down to them. They were already swimming around, laughing and playing with each other for the moment.

They wanted me to join in, so why not? My job every night was to entertain these two, and thankfully, Riley was willing enough to help me. With my power over the dream, I created a few things around the waterline that were features. I do my best to make this place nicer every day.

This time around, I set up some decently shaped boulders around and set up a human style swimming area to avoid having the kids swim too far out. I could not have them getting tired in the middle of the freaking lake.

I even included a springboard for launching oneself into the lake. Mostly to occupy the kids while I simply relaxed in the warm water. I then made it tremendously hot around me, building a section that was separate from the others. A hot tub was something I always needed but never realized I needed. Having hot water soaking into my fur felt great, better than I could have hoped for.

In this body, several things bring about a sense of euphoria; including warm water in my fur, and unfortunately, being petted. Seriously, for whatever reason whenever someone rubs my head or back it feels good. It is driving me insane because I am not supposed to be a dog!

Perhaps that is the wrong train of thought to keep up, but I could not help it. In my old world, the only beings I had known that enjoyed it were dogs or cats and, well, humans tend not to feelthe same when petted.

Thinking about that, I inspected my paws. They were odd, to say the least. When I created a mirror to view my face, it was actually rather feline, but several other parts of my body were more like a dog. Then I had a single sickle-shaped horn on the right side of my head, and my tail was like a scythe. Basically, I was a cat-dog-reaper.

Did I like this form? Did I like being this? I had never really decided. When I thought about it, I could pretend that I was looking at my old face, but I could never fool myself into believing that I still had that face. Perhaps that was the reason that I was unable to resume my normal form in this dream. No matter what I tried, I could not change my own form.

Such a fact still made me sad. It told me that either I did not remember my own form well enough, or I actually did not want to. Both seemed unlikely. Yet, would there be any other reason?

I allowed myself to sink further into my little hot tub of sorts. It really did feel amazing, even better than standing inside one of the heated waterfalls in the guild that are designed for cleaning oneself, the equivalent of a shower in this world.

Laughter reached my ears, despite them being mostly submerged. I focused again so that my absol sense detected two distinct shapes above me just before I was pounced on by some laughing kids. We all submerged into the hot water, and the little ones suddenly started scrambling to get out.

After I myself got over my surprise, I leaped up and grabbed each by the scruff, hauling them out of the small pool. They coughed up a little hot water and looked in surprise at the small pool I had made. Finally, they spoke.

"Awesome!" my child counterpart cried out as he jumped back in. It had been built for people or pokémon my size, so he had to swim around. After a moment, Sarah's child counterpart leapt in as well.

As they played about in the hot water, Riley came over to me as I tried to shake the water out of my super-absorptive fur, failing miserably.

 _I am still rubbish at that… How the heck did Sarah do it?_

Riley watched the kids play around, a quirk of a smile on his face. "Those two… They'll never change, will they?" he asked. He liked the two of them, as a guardian would.

Eventually, the kids started begging us to play again. Those two would never need to grow up, and as long as we humored them, they never would. They could be kids forever, truly.

Therefore, we continued played with them. I made Riley a swimsuit that he could wear and gave him the ability to switch between the two outfits when he wanted to with a thought command. Dreams really are limitless, aren't they?

Riley was wearing his sunglasses while swimming for whatever reason. I don't know why, but he loves that pair of sunglasses a lot. With the single pane that stretches across his face with an interesting design and thinner at the bridge, I haven't the faintest idea as to why he cares so much about them.

The kids made up a game where they would hide in the water and pull whoever was near under, including each other. Being able to tell where they were at all times, I simply pretended that I could not and also pretended to be surprised when I got pulled under the water. Heck, I even gave small shouts as I was yanked under the water, amusing Riley quite a bit.

Sheila rolled in after about an hour of playing and scuffling. The kid's game had turned into a splashing war, which they were trying to get us involved in. I had never gotten in a childish splashing war before and I have to say, it is strangely fun, especially if you have recently begun to discover the childish side you never had.

Sheila rolled down the cliffside with an adapted set of spike treads, dropping into the water and converting into her amphibious form, floating atop the water. Sheila is based off a game I used to play called Recoil. It was an excellent game, however short, and the tank you played as was impressive. Changing weapons and vehicle types is something Sheila does as well.

"Hey, uh, Sheila…" Riley stammered, "You know… I didn't mean to call you fat, or whatever you thought I was implying…" It turns out Riley is bad at apologizing. Sheila looked at him with her cannon, making Riley and I wince.

Sheila was about surprise us, however. " **That's fine. I don't expect you meant anything** ," she said, and then the thing we thought we would hear. " **I will get you back, though,** " Sheila finished with a bit of cheer in her voice.

"Bent on revenge, eh?" I asked, still in my childish thought process. I was acting cheekily right now, and I knew it; however, Sheila took my prod quite literally. " **Affirmative** ," she confirmed. Riley leaned back a bit, and child me took the time to trip him and make him fall into the water.

Sheila gave a stereotypical female chuckle as she saw the scenario unfolding in front of her. I gave my own chuckle.

 _I'm slowly becoming a kid again…_

Sheila noticed what the kids were doing and shot by in her amphibian form, causing a giant wave to crash into them, sweeping them away. They squealed in surprise as they were blasted away.

The kids ended up fifty feet away, where they immediately began to splash each other again, forgetting what happened. Sheila was about to go for them again, but I made a wave the size of a house erupt under her and threw her far into the air. She landed upside down and promptly sank.

I realized I had forgotten that Sheila does in fact have a submarine form, which I got an up-close look at as she rushed at me and tossed me away on a wave.

 _This will be the most intense splashing fight of all time._

Riley seemed confused about which war to join: The small one between the kids, or the war about to occur between Sheila and I. Sheila was coming for me again, only half submerged due to her powerful engines and tried to plow into me. I swept her up on a wave as she got close and she somehow managed to clip my face with her huge barrel.

I tried to rub my face ineffectively because I am in no way versatile with my paws. Now things would kick off. I was annoyed now. I created a whirlpool first, dragging the tank somewhat in one direction before she gained control and used her powerful engine to plow through it, then I made the water blast upwards in a pillar, twisting it to send her halfway across the lake.

Time stopped for everyone but me and I realized what was happening. It being unfair that the time stop did not affect me, I stopped moving. I looked about to see Amaterasu at the water'sedge. I was surprised she was even here. She was not the playful type, preferring to remain professional, as I tended to do.

She knew I was trying to become more childlike in this dream because this was one place I really could be a kid for once. Yet, I was not expecting her to take part in this. What was she drawing and why?

After a few more seconds, time started again and water flew out in a stream from the drawing Amaterasu made. It blasted Riley in the back, sending him into the water. He flailed in surprise for a bit before regaining his composure and standing up in the knee-deep water.

He raised a disbelieving eyebrow at Amaterasu. So did I. Amaterasu was willing to get involved in this? Really? Time was going to be stopping a lot more frequently now.

Sheila interrupted my thoughts by charging me again. I sprinted to meet her, running straight on the water towards her and creating an invisible shield. In the dream, I was the most powerful of all of us, for I could do anything I wanted with the world.

It was somewhat unfair that I was the only one that did not stop when Amaterasu froze time, but there was little I could do about that. Somehow, three battles were raging between the six of us. Well, two of them. The kids were just playing.

A brutal collision between Sheila and me in the middle of the lake blasted away a lot of water, which washed over the others. Time did not stop as Sheila started spinning around me, creatingmany waves that submerged me. I wondered what was keeping Amaterasu from freezing time, or maybe everyone was just watching Sheila and me.

It was rather childish to be doing this in the first place. When I thought that way, my mood darkened. I reasoned that I could sometimes play no around when one was there to judge me, but sometimes, it still felt wrong.

Yet, this was a water fight worthy of a freaking anime. Like fairy tail or something. Giant waves, controlling the water, brutally knocking each other into rock walls. The other four were indeed watching; no longer paying attention to each other.

After a while, Sheila got a hit off me when my concentration faltered and I flew all the way to the bank, where I created a crater in the sand and just laid there for a while. Sheila, back in heramphibious form, drove up to us.

"Seems you won that one…" I groaned. My tail was stuck in the ground, I could not get off my back, and my mind was muddled a bit. Sheila looked impassively at me, though there would probably be some emotion subroutine activated in that machine.

" **Are you all right**?" Sheila asked me. It was understandable that she was worried about me. If I died, this place may disappear. Maybe dying in the dream would not mean anything, but maybe it would. I had no intention to find out.

"Yes, I am fine. I would like to rest a bit, though…" I muttered, and the others backed off except for the kids, who still looked at me with something like awe. Finally, they cheered and started squealing about how awesome that water fight was.

I shot Amaterasu a pleading look for help

She thankfully noticed and dipped her disc into the water, splashed the kids from behind. I thanked her with my eyes, which she replied with a look that told me she was not certain it was worth it.

Riley stepped forward. "Need any help?" he asked. I nodded and he offered his hand. His hand, which I looked at with annoyance and envy. It was not like I could grab it, no longer having hands of my own.

 _Curse these paws…_

Riley waited for five seconds before realizing what he was doing, and instead grabbed me by the ankle, yanking me out of the ground. After he had done so, I focused again and fixed the crater I had made and made the water flow back into the lake.

The kids were attacking Amaterasu with water, which I watched with quite a bit of amusement. Amaterasu did not look as happy as I did and did her best to avoid the kids. The two of them were surprisingly relentless.

For the next few hours, it was Amaterasu's turn to deal with them while Riley, Sheila and I watched in amusement. Well, I actually laid down and closed my eyes after thirty minutes.

While the sounds of the stereotypical beach activities danced around me, along with the others talking to each other, I rested. Even if I felt rested when I woke up every morning, I still felt the need to take a nap right now. Eventually the sounds faded away as I quite literally fell into a deeper sleep.

 **⽕ Sarah's POV ⽕**

My dream started out pleasantly. I was underneath a giant tree on a beautiful island with all sorts of beautiful structures. Every dream I have starts with me underneath the same tree in some sort of environment. I guess living in a giant crystal tree for the previous seven years of my life can cause that.

Ever since I met Caleb, he has been in every dream I had, acting as I imagined he would act. Maybe it was false, but at this point, I relished every dream I had. This time some freaky beast came out of the forest and tried to attack me, but Caleb appeared to fight the monster off.

He used a blade attack like his night slash, but as dreams go it was somewhat different. This blade attack was bright blue, and it knocked the thing out immediately.

As I watched, the beast faded and Caleb walked over to me, a smile upon his face. His armor was gone. His chest fur was unkempt just as the rest of his fur was. I loved seeing that. So many absol are self-conscious about their fur, but Caleb never was. The ragged look he showed off every day looked great.

Caleb came up to me and gave me a quick kiss. Which despite it being a dream, I relished. Anything can happen in a dream. I seem to be able to control myself in my dream, but not other things or people like Caleb can control his dream. If I had my own dream world…

 _It would not be anything like Caleb's…_

Dream Caleb gave me another, longer kiss, and the scene shifted to us laying down together at a cliff overlooking the sea. Again, Caleb was acting unlike he would in the normal world. It was he giving me the longing looks. Looks we shared together in that dream.

His attitude was another thing I loved about him, something that appealed to me quite a bit. He was lighter hearted in my dream, yet he still used big words and had a similar attitude. He was Caleb if Caleb had lived a little longer, fallen in love with me, and had lightened up to how you would expect another pokémon to be. It was the perfect additions to a character that already captivated me.

Maybe someday, we could share kisses like this. Perhaps it was possible, one day, to see him smile and laugh like the Caleb in my dream was doing now. This Caleb joked and laughed all the time. I have seen Caleb joke and laugh on occasion, and I knew that this Caleb was in there. I just had to find it.

I promised myself, as Dream Caleb and I laughed together and kissed again, that I would find and bring about the person he was inside, that he always was underneath that shell that living in the human world gave him, that removed any possibility of him having a childhood.

I tried to imagine what Caleb was doing in his dream world right this minute. He had seemed much more open around his dream constructs than many others. Maybe he was allowing himself to be a kid again in that dream. He always smiled as he slept nowadays. He would be playing with those kids, chatting with the human boy and the tank and Ammy; enjoying himself.

He needed to lighten up; he needed to drop that shell of his. To do that, I began to devise a plan. A truly devious plan that could be implemented at any time. Caleb would loosen up if it werethe last thing I did.

 _You are mine, Caleb. I can save you from yourself._

 **⽊ Erza's POV ⽊**

Getting to sleep tonight was a challenge for me. Normally, I am utterly exhausted after a day of work, but Sarah's abilities poured energy back into me, making it difficult to sleep for a while. I, Servine, was having difficulty sleeping.

 _Actually, I'm Erza now… I had better get used to it._

Caleb had probably thought of that name because he remembered it. Maybe I would ask him to explain where the name came from later, but at least it was not something common and silly like Ivy or whatever. I don't know any pokémon nicknamed Erza or Daemyn at all. Despite Caleb's protests, he was decent at naming people.

Eventually, sleep came for me. Everyone I know has dreams, and I am no different. Tonight's dreams were relevant to today's events. I practically relived the scene from a distance; standing at the edge of the clearing as I watched Caleb dodge shadow balls. It was amusing watching him try something clever just to be blown into the sky and bombarded with attacks.

After that, I watched team Amber land in the field, and saw myself watching the scene from another edge of the clearing. They had their conversation and things kicked off. I kind of zoned out, somehow doing so in a dream. I was thinking about how things were going to go.

I knew that each and every pokémon would be practicing something in secret that they would keep until the third portion of the tournament with the single battles. Each of us needed something to keep secret for that.

Caleb would have to know that. Maybe it would be smart to let him go without a surprise, but I would never do that. The last time I went through the tournament, nobody told me to keep a technique secret until the single battles. The result was me losing the very first battle because the person I battled went ahead and did something that shocked me and I lost easily.

I would not let Caleb go without letting him know to make something up on his own. It would be rather mean to let him flounder through the tournament and be taken out of the game. Tomorrow, I would mention it to him.

My dream began to fade away as a deeper sleep began to take me. Some rest really was what I needed.

 **⽛ Daemyn's POV ⽛**

Even nowadays, I am prepared for nightmares. Yet, ever since the battle that almost cost Sarah her life, the dark energy filling my head with nightmares had been obliterated. Despite that, I still had a few nightmares about how badly Sarah had been injured, but tonight was not one of those nights.

I walked alone for a while through a forest. This forest was like a mix of most forests I have been in, with many different trees. It was quite a nice place to be, but it would be gone in the morning. It was likely that my sense of time was muddled in this scenario.

I walked until Caleb joined me out of nowhere, as dreams go. We talked for a while, but I was not doing the talking. I was watching a mightyena and an absol chat as they walked. It was a simplistic dream, but it was nice enough.

 _I think dream Caleb talks more than real Caleb._

The conversation was unintelligible, probably because I don't have incredibly detailed dreams like Caleb apparently does, but it seemed to be friendly. It looked like Caleb was laughing, but that did not seem realistic. My friend tended not to laugh very much. Maybe this was a hope for the future.

Caleb's future, once he lightened up a bit. In my opinion, lightening up would be great for his health. Maybe something could be done to help him along… First, I needed to make the guy laugh.

 _Oh, will this be difficult…_

 **❊ Amber's POV ❊**

 _"Fear is natural, child,"_ Gardevoir said to me as I rested within the dream. We were absentmindedly talking to each other; Gardevoir sat at an invisible wall, while I was curled on the warm floor. None of the surfaces were distinguishable, just plenty of shifting colors.

Gardevoir was telling me the same thing she did whenever I grew afraid. It eased me for the moment as she talked to me and discussed the things that bothered me, sometimes repeating points when necessary. I could always start a day fresh if I could let go of these fears before I awoke.

It used to be that my dreams were quick and over with, and left me afraid. After the crisis with the meteor however, Gardevoir spoke all night with me. For the first few weeks, she had constantly apologized for not being able to stay long for whatever reason.

Eventually, we put those things behind us and continued with life. I felt shy around most, though Charizard gave me courage, Absol gave me leadership, and Magnezone gave me a sense of safety. Gardevoir gave me the ability to talk to others easier. Without them, I just chickened out when I tried to talk to others.

I could never seem to get rid of the fear that pretty much roared through me when I tried to talk to others. It had started the day I woke up in this world. When I met some nice folks and saved a caterpie from a small forest turned mystery dungeon, I had met with a group of pokémon who were nasty customers. Charmander and I were messed up, and it had been rather traumatizing.

I suppose I don't like meeting new people anymore, but it was something I could not get rid of. Maybe someday it would fade away, but for now, I needed my friends to help me have the courage to even talk to others.

Maybe that would happen eventually. Gardevoir seemed to read my thoughts. Actually, she probably did. _"Perhaps, child. Perhaps. It may be possible to grow out of this. It can only be good that you have friends to help you on your way, and I personally believe that you should attempt to make friends with these new people."_ Gardevoir told me.

I was still unsure. "What if they don't accept me for who I am, just like the others?" I asked of Gardevoir, who seemed thoughtful.

Eventually, she looked me in the eyes. _"Then they have proven not to be your friends, I suppose. Regardless, I figure some of them at least must be able to accept it. You cannot succeed without making the attempt, Amber."_

That made sense. It was my choice, but if I never made friends or at least tried to, I would never really make it out of this distrust for others. If only I could get rid of that fear…

Nevertheless, I knew it would not fade for a long time. I knew as soon as I left this dream once more, things would seem much worse than they were to me, and I could not change that. At least, not by myself.

 **⽯ Caleb's POV ⽯**

I 'woke up' to the feeling of having something on top of me. Instead of opening my eyes, I viewed the surroundings with my absol sense. One of the kids was sleeping on top of me, their small snores reaching my ears. Speaking of my ears, I noted that my hearing was certainly better at this time, like I was subconsciously focusing on my hearing more.

Once upon a time, I learned that if I focused on something, I could hear it better as if my hearing was selective. Now, my hearing was improving. I wondered if I would begin to hear things louder all the time. In many ways that could be annoying or even painful. I decided to do an experiment.

Mentally telling my hearing to diminish seemed to make it easier to listen instead. That was annoying. I was focusing on my hearing to try to turn it off and it was causing me to hear better instead.

I let it go back to what was apparently my new normal. A dog would still make me seem deaf, but it was at least three times sharper. Was this the new normal?

Maybe I never fully became an absol at first, and now the transformation is being completed? On the other hand, maybe I simply never unlocked this ability? I had been told that when pokémon reach a certain level of experience, the knowledge of some techniques appear inside of their minds. If they never learned it by that time…

Perhaps this was just another technique that I pretty much unlocked. An interesting development, but I knew that it would only cause pain tomorrow morning. Maybe it would come in handy later, but if I never figured out how to stop it…

 _I can imagine the pain already…_

I was not able to get up and move right now. Whichever absol was on top of me and slumbering; they would wake up if I moved and I did not want to do that. Therefore, I was completely stuck.

I slightly moved my head to the side to see the other one, my child counterpart, sleeping right next to me. Sarah's child counterpart was the one on top of me.

 _I wonder if Sarah herself is also making contact with me… She had better not be._

Nobody else was around. We were still at the water's edge, but Riley, Sheila, and Amaterasu were nowhere to be found. They were probably giving these kids their naptime along with me.

I found myself gazing across the water of the lake. I felt strangely peaceful, despite the fact that this world was filled with combat and conflict. Perhaps it was because this really was peace for pokémon, to be able to cheerfully challenge each other and play around.

Something I would never do in the outside world. Here in this dream, this was the one place I could be a kid and not be judged. Out there, I certainly could be.

However, looking out into the lake, feeling like I was looking at life itself, I still felt at peace. Peace knowing that I was trapped in a world where combat was celebrated. Peace in a world where things were always exciting and involved explosions and roars. I felt peaceful, and it was freaking me out.

I was freaking out because I definitely did not belong here. I needed to change to fit here, but in no way did I intend to change. On the other hand, intending was different from actually being able to prevent change. I really was changing. How long before I was no longer Caleb? A year? A month? How long before my name was just that. A name?

 _Why am I so utterly terrified of change?_

I laid there for a while, thinking over that question. I had no idea how to answer it. Child Sarah slumbered on top of me. For some reason, I did not feel the self-consciousness I tended to when someone did something that made feel anything other than human. This time around, I felt something else…

Perhaps that was the sense of parenthood I was feeling to the little girl on top of me. She was a product of my dream, but she was still a little kid. I would not dare move until I woke up of course. I would have to wake the sleeping child up before I faded away and she fell to the ground.

A few hours I laid there, not moving a muscle and attempting not to do anything to disturb Child Sarah in her slumber. At the same time, I tried to control how well I could hear, but it would no longer go lower than the new level.

When I began to fade away rather quickly because Loudred was probably in the process of shouting at me, I shifted and said "Wake up, kids!" My ears were already ringing, despite the fact that the actual sounds did not make it into my dream. Little Sarah woke up sleepily and promptly slid off me. The children woke up quick when they noticed what was happening.

"You guys can get yourselves home, yes?" I asked of the kids. They smiled and said yes, and then they stayed to hang out with me as everything faded to black, just a moment before my ears really registered what Loudred was yelling.

"WAKE UP, YOU TWO LOVEBIRDS!"

 _I hate my life._

"Get away from me, Sarah…" I grumbled, plenty loud for Loudred to hear, letting him know this was not my intention. I sensed him looking at me and nodding, before walking away. Sarah had apparently been blasted from her dream as well. I got away from her as fast as possible as I realized just how close she was.

I was not even comfortable thinking about it. I sent Sarah a death glare before I remembered that I should be nicer, and proceeded to turn and walk away; only after Sarah noted my anger. I stalked away, my happiness having been obliterated in the face of this rude awakening.

 _I hate everything._

* * *

 **Jango: Hey, everybody! Hyperjade stole my thunder a bit at the beginning, so I'm here at the end with somebody that Hyper brought along to stick around. Say hi.**

 **Amber: Hi. What are you actually doing here? Just talking again?**

 **Jango: Now, Amber. Hyper wants us to avoid spoiling anything, so we should probably act a little different than we would right now. Hyper's kind of got something hanging over me-**

 **Amber: The Affinity Ribbon incident?**

 **Jango: Shhh... Now, Hyper usually has some things to say. First, to leave reviews, then, he asks them to follow the story if they want to receive email notifications for new chapters. Then, he reminds people to send him any character ideas through the personal messaging system to ensure that no spoilers are to be found. Then, he gives a template for character bio's. I think other people call them OC's, but he's just behind the times. Poor bugger.**

 **Amber: Got it. Act differently, writer does some things at the end... Anything else I should know?**

 **Jango: Just that there are a few traps set around the house for Hyper, so be careful.**

 **Amber: Dammit, Jango! Again!?**

 **Jango: *Winces***

* * *

 **Nickname:**

 **Age:**

 **Gender:**

 **Species:**

 **Personality:**

 **Background (this may be lengthy):**

 **Unique Aspect (optional):**

 **Other:**


	4. Chapter Four

**Chapter four! Hello, all of you. Thank's to Pigeoncracker, this chapter is in good condition to be sent out without many fo the errors it had before! Not only that but chapter four of New Age will be posted around the same time as this.**

 **I'll handle the reviews today, seeing as the others aren't here. Amber's probably keeping Jango in line. Anyways, let's start with WesternFail. Thank you for the feedback. Generally, chapters for this story and New Age will alternate, and each chapter will be about a week apart if there are no obstacles in the way of posting a chapter. There will be plenty of Caleb/Sarah interaction, but not just yet. There are things to do.**

 **BookDragon: Thank you very much for your comments. Nice pun, by the way.**

 **Phillip Harbindinger: Yes, the wait is longer, but most of the errors if not all of them have been removed. That's why I've got Pigeoncracker helping me. Glad I could bring about something new for you.**

 **Raven-the-Dragon6229: I did check out that Past Sins fic you mentioned in your review, and** I **have to say** I **enjoyed the writing style. Excellent stuff.**

 **With that out of the way, and without further ado, chapter four of The Absolite Chronicles!**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Like Trying to Make a Stone Laugh.**

 **⽊Erza's POV⽊**

I awoke in the morning with a mess of vines directly above me, along with two pairs of eyes.

I sighed. "Hello, you two," I groaned as I began to get up. They backed away as I went to sit up. I had been sleeping on my back for some stupid reason, so my tail caused some issues as I tried to flip to my feet. Even so, I succeeded. "Right… Today's plan…"

I tried to recall. We were supposed to meet as one massive group near the entrance to Spinda's cafe. We were going to go to the nearby Tiny Meadow dungeon, because apparently, the ground repaired itself over time, according to Sarah.

Of course, that was not my only objective.

Today's top job was making Caleb laugh… somehow. Caleb needed to lighten up, and today my true job was to start that process. It has been quite a while since I last went out of my way to do something like this.

The tangela twins seemed to have everything ready now. Bags packed, personal items held. Sarah would not be healing us constantly today, so reviver seeds were definitely necessary. Oran berries and even sitrus berries were packed with a host of other berries.

After inspecting the bags, we made our way out of the grotto. The sun shone into my eyes, so I covered them with one arm. The tangela seemed to have no such problems.

We lived further away from the crossroads than the others. If Sarah and Mightyena were arguing again, I would knock them both senseless.

 _Actually, he's Daemyn now. Why do I keep forgetting that?_

I guess I was not the best at memorizing things. At least I could memorize combat techniques; that I could do.

We decided to run to the place. If the others were walking, we might have a chance to get there first. The tall grass was always annoying to try to run through if one did not have experience with it. The newcomers from the other region might have some trouble, particularly Amber. That little girl may be powerful, but nobody was insusceptible to tall grass.

The crossroads seemed to be empty for the moment. Perfect. I went and leaned against the tree while the tangela got a drink of water from the available watering hole. Maybe I would get some water before we left.

I now wondered when the others would get here. Perhaps they had been held up. Wait, all of them?

 **⽕Sarah's POV⽕**

Caleb walked by Loudred, hissing under his breath in anger. I didn't quite understand. Why was Caleb so angry? Loudred gave me an odd look, almost accusing. Shedinja floated in front of my face. " **Shedinja** ," he said. I had no idea what he wanted from me.

I tried to walk around him. He still got in the way. " **Shedinja** ," he said again. He was very persistent; I would have to give him that. At least he was trying. I turned my focus completely on him. "I'm very sorry; Shedinja, but I can't understand what you're saying. I really wish any of us could, really. Today, why don't you try to find a different way of speaking? Hearing you talk again would be refreshing for all of us, I think," I said to him.

Shedinja backed up from me a foot. He said nothing for a bit. I wondered if he believed that I actually meant my apology. It seemed I was not trustworthy in the eyes of others anymore.

...What can I do to change that?

What could I do? This distrust was not because of what happened with Caleb not going home. It had not stopped people from trusting me. In fact, this distrust was more recent and gradual.

Caleb told me a few days ago when he finally took the time to talk to me that trust can fade away if you consistently betray someone. It was rather a 'duh' thought, but if Caleb went out of his way to tell me about it, then he must mean something by it.

" **Shedinja**."

"No, no, that makes no sense. Why would he think that?"

" **Shedinja**."

"I know I should let him off, but… I cannot. It's as if I don't have a choice. It's like I have no self-control whatsoever."

" **Shedinja**."

"I just… Love him. Every single thing about him appeals to me, and I can't seem to stay out of the way all the time."

" **Shedinja**."

 **⻤Shedinja's POV⻤**

I felt elated. Sarah understood me! I looked at her face. She was looking slightly down, and her eyes… I would have gulped if I could. Her eyes were kind of glazed over like she was not focusing whatsoever.

What was up with her? She was answering my statements perfectly, but it was as if she was not paying attention at all.

"I… I can't work on that. Maybe someday…" Sarah said. The two of us entered the big room and Sarah's eyes suddenly focused. She walked a few more steps.

 _"Can you understand me? Hello?"_ I tried to ask.

" **Shedinja**."

Sarah's head whipped around to look at me. "Wha-... How… Did I just…" She stammered, staring at me. _"Yes! You answered my questions! Can you understand me still?"_ " **Shedinja**."

Sarah's wide, blue and gray eyes stared at me. "...It's gone. I can't understand you anymore… It's not like I heard words… What happened?" She asked. I mentally winced. "I don't know…" I tried to reply. " **Shedinja** ".

Chatot called the guild members to attention so that the group could sing the three verses that we always sang. Well, most of us sang. Caleb was dead silent. I gave it my best shot, but the song was only broken by my name right in the middle.

Despite our being one big group that everyone loved because of our impressive shenanigans throughout the first few months of Caleb's life here, we busted the mood of the guild members easily during the music. At least Sarah did her best. Her voice was a good addition to the chanting in the room.

At least Sarah and I had a discussion. Sarah was an odd case, to say the least. Her situation was deplorable in a sense: falling madly in love with someone to the point of not being able to control herself. Over time, the others would have to change that.

 _Because we all know, I can't anymore…_

While I was wallowing in self-pity, Caleb had walked straight up the ladder and out of sight. Once Sarah stopped glancing at me and noticed him, she bounded after the human. The ladder became crowded, so I pulled a trick I had been practicing and became incorporeal. I managed to float straight up through the ceiling; I ended up passing through someone, who shivered when I did so and looked around frantically. I wanted to say sorry, but I kept my thoughts quiet.

I floated up to the top and caught up with my friends. When I reappeared in front of them, Caleb barely took notice of me. A sudden moment of brilliance shone in me as I noticed a vacant look in his eyes. _"Who do you think will be there when we get there?"_ I mentally asked.

" **Shedinja** "

"Likely Erza, perhaps Daemyn. I do not know team Amber enough to properly speculate for them," Caleb replied. Sarah stared at him, realizing what was happening. Thankfully, she did not alert him to what was happening. I tried again, saying, _"What have you gathered about team Amber?"_

" **Shedinja**."

"I know next to nothing about Magnezone. Absol seems to be very similar to me, yet he has the added effect of being incredibly vague. This has caused me to dislike him. Charizard appears to be the powerhouse of the group. He has impressive strength and the ability to fly, as well as having a positive effect on the leader of the team. This leader, Amber, seems to be very uncertain of herself. If Charizard is nearby, Amber feels more secure." Caleb muttered in response. Yet, he was not done.

"During training, Charizard and Amber must stick together. If we fight them in this tournament…" Caleb said, and then he looked up slightly, "We need to separate them. Amber seem to be ridiculously powerful, but being confident in herself makes things harder for all of us in the tournament. During training, and any other time, I would never suggest such a painful scenario, but this tournament is supposed to be won."

 _"I understand. Thanks,"_ I tried to say.

" **Shedinja.** "

"You are welcome, Shedi-..." Caleb stopped mid-sentence and blinked several times. He looked right at me. "Try that again," he ordered.

 _"Er… I understand. Thanks"_ I said mentally again.

" **Shedinja**."

Caleb looked right at me for a while, having stopped walking. "Not this time. It appears that hearing you involves being distracted, suggesting that the message in that name of yours is only heard in the subconscious."

"This is great, Shedinja!" Sarah exclaimed. Caleb nodded mutely, voicing his agreement in his own way. Then, he made a sort of half smile.

"It has been too long since we could communicate, Shedinja. We just have to… Ignore you. Completely, and then your questions can be answered…" Caleb trailed off, his smile fading and his posture slumping a bit.

That was troubling. Then they could not ask me questions in return. If something was bothering me, I had to start talking about it. I had to initiate every conversation. I could try that, but… It would be difficult if the others did not know I was there and kept talking to one another.

 _Maybe it will be all right…_

Sarah, Caleb, and I walked to the crossroads where Servine waited with the tangela twins. "About time" Servine said, "We are still waiting on the others."

"Yes, I noticed," Caleb muttered, and then winced suddenly. "No! Sorry," he apologized, "I simply am in a poor mood today. It's unacceptable I know-" Caleb earned himself a smack on the head with a sudden flail. "Stop apologizing. It's easy enough to tell when you're in a rotten mood."

The spike ball rolled off Caleb's head slowly, crashing into the ground. The glowing flail faded away as Caleb muttered something inaudible.

 **⽛Daemyn's POV⽛**

I woke to the loud noises of Bastiodon walking around. "Garrrrrr… At least it's better than Loudred..." I muttered out loud. Bastiodon did not reply, Machoke was checking on our things. I lurched to my paws. "Are we almost ready to go already? You guys must be excited," I observed.

Machoke gave a smirk. "I am anticipating the battles to come," He replied shortly. Bastiodon just nodded. I shook off sleep and grabbed my bag. There was an extra pouch there. "What's this for?" I asked the two of them.

Bastiodon turned to me. "We will be attempting something before we go on to the group today. I believe we are up before the others, but we still have a time limit," He droned on.

"...Sure," I said, bewildered. Why was I kept in the dark about this? Only one way to tell.

The others led me to Kangaskhan's storage.

Half an hour later, we walked into the crossroads where the others were. "Mornin'!" Servine called, giving a short wave. Caleb nodded to him from where he was lying down on the ground near the watering hole. Most of the others greeted him, but Amber and her team was not there. Neither was Jake, nor Swampert.

"Where are the others?" I asked. Shedinja said his name, but I did not understand a word of it. Servine shrugged, and Caleb did his best to do the same.

"Guess we're waiting," I muttered under my breath. Just about everyone nodded, Shedinja even doing his equivalent by floating up and down.

"Just like **we** were waiting for **you** ," Servine added, pointing out my attitude.

 _What can I say? I spent half an hour testing my new trick for the tournament._

Even thinking that, it was a bad attitude to have. I nodded at Servine before laying down near Caleb and waiting. Eventually, I started a discussion with Caleb.

"Excited for today?" I tried. Servine had whispered a reminder in my ear about today's true mission: make Caleb laugh. Perhaps I could do that early, if I was very careful about how I did it. Caleb was not likely to laugh easily.

"At the moment, I am not in the best mood. There was a rather rude awakening that only had a little to do with Loudred," Caleb muttered in reply. I frowned.

"Sarah got in your face again?" I asked.

"She decided it would be a good idea to move her bed quite close to mine. Loudred got the wrong idea," Caleb answered, his expression turning dark. "He learned pretty quickly what happened before any rumors could be spread."

Caleb was furious at the moment. It had been a while since I had seen him like that. "Well, it's not like she was **in** your bed, right?" I asked lightheartedly. Caleb shook his head. "If she had been **in** my bed, I would have been beyond angry," he growled.

 _First attempt at making Caleb at least chuckle: Dismal failure._

"Well, apparently you get to take all of your anger out on the field, especially because it apparently fixes itself," I tried.

Caleb shook his head. "I should not take my anger out on anything. Even if I would, Absol wants me to be attacking him instead," he responded.

Second attempt at making Caleb at least chuckle: also a dismal failure.

How the heck was I going to get this guy to laugh? Maybe Servine had a few ideas.

"You know, I think I had something to tell Servine," I said, making an excuse to try to discuss it with her. However, Caleb seemed to deflate a bit. He said nothing in reply.

Servine followed me to the entrance of the crossroads where we could talk quietly.

 **❊ Amber's POV ❊**

"You finally had to just knock him out, huh?" Charizard asked me. Magnezone inspected Absol, who was not waking up.

"Yep, I accidentally overdid it though," I replied, glad Charizard was there at least. "We're late as it is, so you'll have to carry the guy. Let's hope he wakes up."

"His skull's pretty thick," Charizard growled, picking up the absol "I could whack him on the head to wake him up." Charizard was not a fan of the way he stayed up at night either. It was getting annoying for Charizard. I was just worried for him.

"I-if I may-y," Magnezone warbled, as magnezones do, "W-we may need to take a detour-r. T-the road is being destroyed by a typhlosion and a tyranitar-r."

I walked over to the door and peeked out. There were indeed two massive pokémon slamming into each other and destroying the ground around them, along with a few houses. "Jeez… Well, let's take another road," I responded. Charizard walked out of the door and Magnezone floated behind him.

I moved out last. Immediately, a fireball sailed towards me. Barely thinking about it, my necklace flashed and I absorbed the fire easily. I hurriedly switched back before anybody saw. From what I have learned in the past, people don't like strange and unusual things.

I watched as the two pokémon fought. It looked like they were training, or at least I thought so. It seemed rather violent. "It can't be good for them to be bashing their skulls together like that…" I muttered. I noticed that Charizard was already on his way, probably thinking I had been paying attention.

"Wait!" I called as I caught up to them. I did not intend to be in a crowd without my best friends. They were pretty much my lifeline, after all. Charizard faltered, looking slightly ashamed. Charizard then put Absol down as he began to wake up.

"About time," Charizard muttered. Absol stood up. He immediately began to think, looking at me. "Amber, it's not-" he tried to start.

"Stop, please," I interrupted, "Try staying up past bedtime again and I'm going to need to hypnotize you again. Magnezone is the one that doesn't need sleep, but you clearly do."

Absol looked like he wanted to argue, but Charizard frowned down at him. Eventually, Absol decided to stay quiet for now. I was worried about his health. Unless you were a pokémon like Magnezone or some ghost types, you needed sleep. It was bad physically and mentally to be that way.

And the reason I know that… It must be something from my old life. Sometimes I just knew things. Things I must have known when before I lost my memory.

We walked the wrong way for a while before we could turn around on another makeshift street. There were many rescue teams talking about training; what the plan was for the day. This week would be hectic with this kind of thing, considering what was up.

A sixteen-year-old eevee like me would not really show up on most people's threat radar. It would be easy to surprise someone with my abilities.

"We need to get to the others," I was telling my friends when we were approached by a bayleef.

"Um… Hello. Have you guys seen a drapion and a phanpy anywhere nearby?" she asked. Absol stepped forward, noticing me hesitate. I admit that I was afraid of even her. Charizard was near me, but this time my aversion to people in general got through.

"No, I am sorry, but we saw no such group up to this point," Absol replied. The bayleef looked disappointed.

"I was supposed to meet them somewhere when I finished getting what I needed from Kangaskhan… I'll just keep looking for them," She said as she walked past.

"Hope she finds them" I said. Being separated from those you trust can be painful, as I learned when Zapdos attacked us, back before Charizard could fly and he was just a charmander.

"T-the badge she was wearing is a team member badge for team Titanium-m," Magnezone warbled, looking after the bayleef. That meant that she would be involved in this tournament.

"Do you recognize the name?" I asked.

"I hear they are a powerful team from Garchomp's guild in one of the other regions," Absol replied. Most of the regions in the world have guilds. Most of those guilds are run by powerful dragon types, though one is run by a wigglytuff, of course, and there was the one run by a lilligant. Then there were two regions without guilds, one where we were from, and another, smallerone; then there was the one with the kingdom.

The leader of the kingdom, the largest region in the known world, was called a queen, but she was more of a guildmaster. She did have a nice castle though, or so I have heard. I never knew the name of the queen of that place. She was a guildmaster that had a little more authority. Apparently, it was not like the stories about kingdoms of old where the kings and queens took whatever they wanted.

 _Wait… what stories?_

Sometimes I have moments like that. Moments where I think of something that makes no sense. I wondered if they were memories about my old life, but that made no sense. Gardevoir could not make sense of them either when they happened. She could see the memories I had and did not detect them at all.

However, this 'kingdom' was more of a massive guild with a few differences. I remembered something I had heard. "There were these pokémon nicknamed King and Queen right? You don't think they are the leaders of that one region?"

Absol was the one to reply. "King and Queen are a nidoking and a nidoqueen. They are from that place, but they are not the guildmaster of that place. Or the queen, if she really calls herself that."

"T-they are powerful, I believe-e," Magnezone added.

We arrived at the main area. The kecleon brothers had a store here as well. I guess they had a hand in just about every region then. Kangaskhan had a place here as well. She was actually here, which surprised me. I had thought the only kangaskhan storage that had a kangaskhan actually holding the place down was our own. Upon closer observation, I saw that it was a different kangaskhan than the one I know.

Most places have kangaskhan rocks instead.

The other stores were unique instead. There was one with a xatu operating it. There was an electivire with a shop as well. The most likely bank was the duskull's place. It was quite a nice town, and before all the dirt buildings showed up, it had probably been only a little bigger than the other place.

Moving through town was the raichu and swampert from yesterday. After a look at the others, we joined them. I was a bit apprehensive, but I needed to deal with it. These were the people we were training with, after all.

"H-hello," I said as we joined up. Jake gave me a smile and waved. The raichu was definitely in good spirits. He had his ribbon on, the one that made his electric attacks monstrous. I could easily counteract it, but it was still a frightening concept.

Charizard and Swampert seem to have developed a rivalry as well. After the little wrestling match the two of them had had, both using strength, they both seemed to want to know who would actually win in a proper physical combat scenario.

And when I use words like 'proper' and 'scenario', I know I have spent too much time around Absol. Jake was quite interested in talking to me, and I hesitantly answered some of his questions. After a while, he seemed to notice how hesitant I was.

"Hey," he said suddenly, drawing my attention "if you don't want to talk, just tell me. I can understand hesitation around others; believe me, losing my memory made it slightly harder to talk to pokémon other than Swampert, but I got past that. That means you can too!"

That stopped me dead in my tracks. "L-Lost your memory?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yep, woke up on the beach. Later found out I was someone from the future that was trying to stop the destruction of time and such. Swampert and I managed. I never got those memories back, but…" he answered, but trailed off. He looked very sad all of a sudden.

Swampert rubbed his small partner on the back comfortingly. I would have wondered just what had happened to him, but I was too busy gaping like a magikarp. He had lost his memory as well?

 _Maybe… maybe he could be trusted?_

Nevertheless, how could I just reveal that I had been human before? It's not like there was anyone else like me. So he had amnesia. Would that really make him more likely to accept me for who I am? At this point, only my three teammates and a few others had ever accepted me back home.

"..." Absol was looking from Jake to me, as if calculating something. What was he thinking? Charizard looked interested in the turn this conversation was taking.

Magnezone seemed to back up a bit. "Y-you're-" Magnezone started, but was immediately interrupted by a zigzagoon running by with something in its mouth. He was being chased by several other pokémon.

"Stop! Give that back, you no good…" their voices were lost in the crowd.

Magnezone had seemed rather surprised, which was unusual for him. Jake looked at the floating hunk of metal expectantly, but Magnezone was at a loss for words for the first time I have ever met him.

Absol looked expectantly at me. I blinked a few times in response. What the heck was going on?

"Absol, please tell me what's up right now. I don't want a repeat of the last time you waited for me to figure something out myself," I pleaded. Absol had little reaction, but he went ahead, whispering to me. "I do believe that Jake is another human turned pokémon."

My mind: _Processing. Warning, critical error._

"...Whaaaat?" I asked. I was no longer thinking about all the judgmental eyes I was feeling, because right now my mind was just not working. Absol noticed this total crash and blinked. He was used to me quailing in front of others, or acting as I would in front of certain others, like him. He failed to comprehend my total mental crash and burn as I tried to process that.

Absol's hunches were rarely wrong, but there was just no way… Right?

Jake's ears were pricking. I noted that his ears were rather large. Had he just heard that? "Yep, that's me. I imagined that the news of a human showing up and saving time would have spread like a wildfire, so I guess you guys just live too far away."

 _He's… He's like me? Really?_

But how could I just say 'Hey, so am I!' that would lead to him thinking that I was messing with him or something. Jake had switched topics, however. "Today we're supposed to train on that dungeon that apparently repairs itself over time. A useful place to train. However, Erza, Daemyn, and my teams have decided on a more important mission we can do at the same time," he said.

"And what mission would that be?" Absol asked.

Jake gave a smirk. "We need to make Caleb laugh. Yeah, no kidding it'll be tough, but he needs to lighten up eventually. Otherwise he won't ever do it on his own," he said. That did nothing to snap me out of my mind explosion, but I distantly heard "Good luck with **that** " from Charizard.

There was another human in this world? My mind was screaming that it could not be true, but Absol had the idea and this guy just confirmed it. I had no reason to believe he was lying.

But what could I do to tell him that I was a human too? How was I going to tell him when I couldn't even say it aloud anymore because of how scared I am? I would have to do it without any others listening, besides Charizard. Maybe Swampert could be trusted if he was such good friends with this guy…

At that moment, I realized I could probably trust all of his friends. They all treated him nicely, even that Caleb guy. Caleb still creeped me out, though. The way he seemed to understand everything I did, it was as if he was more calculative than Absol was. I would not have been surprised if he already knew who I was. He never really smiled either, which is pretty much terrifying.

Maybe that was why the others wanted to make him laugh. Charizard spoke up. "Now, I'm going to have to involve myself in that secret plan of yours. Hope you don't mind."

Jake looked up at him. "Glad for the help. Thanks," he replied. Swampert piped up from behind Jake. "I'll help too, of course," he said. His voice was quite low sounding. True, Charizard's was similar, but it still scared me when Swampert talked.

 _Just about everything scares me, and there's not a darn thing I can do about it…_

Now I was wallowing in self-pity. How hopeless of me. There was little I could do to control my emotions.

 _Perhaps I should stick around Sarah. We can both be bad at emotions together._

I had to sprint occasionally to catch up to the others. I was just so small that my walking speed paled in comparison to the others. It sucked, to say the least.

At least Jake had a similar problem. The others were just faster. I could use quick attack and leave each and every one of them in the dust, but I didn't. I simply was not like that. I had even tried to apologize to that Daemyn guy for blasting harder than I meant to, but I chickened out.

Whatever a chicken was. I assume they run away like cowards.

A coward. That was what I was. The one to defeat Rayquaza and convince him to destroy the meteorite, a coward. The others had been trashed in that fight, but I kept standing up after a blow. Thinking back, I thought that in no way could it have been me.

The memory was like a movie character. Someone fictional and…

 _Movie? What?_

No, it was gone. Everything I just said in my mind like that always disappeared after I thought about it. Absol had no idea why. I almost regretted explaining the problem to him, because it was yet another thing for him to constantly worry about and try to figure out. He was driving himself insane thinking about everything that he came across.

I wondered if Caleb was suffering the same thing.

"Hey, Caleb can't be any worse than Articuno, right?" Charizard asked. For the first time in a while, I laughed.

"Haha! Yeah, he was really overbearing, wasn't he?" I laughed. Everyone save Magnezone smiled at that change in mood. At least I had recovered from the news that Jake was like me.

I was still worried about how I would be able to tell him. Certainly not in the middle of this crowd. At least I had not seen team A.C.T yet. Alakazam and his team members were at least polite, but they were not the friendliest to me either. At least Charizard slammed their Charizard easily the last time we fought, though he was just a chameleon then.

Our power was the only thing carrying us, really. At least, that was my best guess as to how I haven't accidentally gotten us wiped out by several dungeons in the past because of my fear. A fear I had no hope of controlling.

We cleared the crowds and got to the crossroads eventually. Everyone else was there. Caleb looked really depressed for some reason. Sarah was trying to talk to him. Shedinja was occasionally saying his name to try to add to the conversation.

 _The poor guy. Not being able to talk properly…_

Daemyn and Erza had not noticed us, and they were talking to each other in hushed voices. My ears twitched as I heard their conversation. "Well, of course he's depressed! He probably thought you went to talk to me because he pushed you away! How do you intend to lighten his mood now?" Erza hissed. I heard Daemyn mutter a curse and then an apology. He turned in a way that did not let him see us and went back to Caleb.

Servine looked to us as if she knew we were here the entire time. "Hello, everyone," she greeted, and then she looked into everyone's eyes. "You're late."

I shivered. She turned scary just like that. It was freaky. Charizard glared at Servine, taking a large step forward. I wondered what was getting Servine to act like that. Perhaps she just enjoyed successfully intimidating others. At least, she did it plenty to Sarah and Daemyn.

Erza noticed me shivering, and her glare softened. "Sorry, I just got used to doing that to Daemyn and Sarah that it's become habit. My bad," Erza said a little quickly. Her eyes had 'I'm sorry' written all over them.

"Oh, yeah?" Charizard pretty much snarled as he took another step forward.

"Charizard, I think she means it," I said, quickly intervening. We needed to save the fighting for the training ground we were going to today. At least that place did not need to be fixed up every time something went down.

Charizard was surprised to say the least about my sudden willingness to back Erza up. He must have seen some determination in my eye through all that constant fear of, well, everything. He shrugged and backed off.

"It's about time we go," Caleb said, suddenly appearing nearby and making me shiver again. Charizard frowned, but there was no threats this time. Caleb continued. "All of us are here, so the next step is to get to the tiny meadow. We should run, though not too fast for the slower ones of us."

He seemed generous and caring at least to mention the speed we needed to go to keep the others in good shape. Machoke and Bastiodon did not look like they could run very fast compared to the others.

Who was he under that mask of cold, calculating power? He clearly was willing to do what was best for others. Any respectable team leader needed that to function properly. Heck, even I have it.

Caleb stared straight into the eyes of each person, from Magnezone to me. His stare made me frightened again. The way he stared straight through me, as if he was seeing my secrets instead of me. Red eyes usually showed off a fire. Caleb's eyes might as well be a dark blue despite their actual color.

The only person Caleb never acted politely towards was Sarah. It was easy enough to understand; Sarah was about as overbearing as any overly attached person could possibly be, and Erza had whispered to me that he had done his best, but Sarah was just too much for him.

Daemyn and Caleb were running nearby each other. Charizard was flying with Magnezone. We had toned down the speed even more because Shedinja seemed to have a small max speed.

"We will make it there within the morning," Caleb had assured us when we noticed this. More accurately, when Caleb noticed. When he was not particularly analyzing something, there was a different look in his eye that I noticed. He looked… sad. His expression had sorrow, pain, and even a little shame in it.

It made me sad just looking at it. Sarah looked like she was feeling the same way looking at him. She may be overly attached, but she seemed to understand other's emotions very well.

" **Shedinja**."

"Not much, really," I answered automatically, under my breath, "I worry about just about everything."

 _Hang on… What?_

I looked to Shedinja. Had I actually answered him? It was odd to say the least. He certainly cannot speak, but I could have sworn…

I shook my head and continued to run with the others. I cursed my small body and its lack of energy, because I was soon breathing hard.

Again, Caleb was the one to notice even before Absol did. "Stop." He commanded. It was no yell, but everyone stopped dead in their tracks immediately. "Amber, are you alright?" he asked. There was compassion in his eyes now, barely hiding the same sadness before.

"I… I need a break," I mumbled under my breath. The others immediately nodded. This Caleb… He really was the leader of the entire group save my own team, but that might change soon enough. These guys were one big team together, and Caleb was the leader of that, too.

Charizard slammed into the ground as he dropped from the sky. He was doing his best to look cool, with his arms crossed and the way he had landed in that very stance. Caleb looked impassively at him, but I had to smother a giggle.

Why did I stop myself? Maybe I was just afraid of judgement yet again.

" **What** an entrance," Daemyn drawled. Immediately, his eyes flicked to Caleb. However, no laughter was in his voice nor even eyes as he said, "We must all gather more energy as Amber rests. I would estimate that we have travelled almost halfway to this tiny meadow, considering Sarah's description of the location of this meadow."

"It's not actually that much of a meadow. It's pretty much an endless field of grass in rolling hills with a few treasures strewn about, and you wander until you find the exit," Sarah put in. Caleb nodded politely.

"Hey, you alright there? It's almost like you did something civil towards Sarah," Daemyn joked, nudging the absol. Caleb looked at him.

"Whatever do you mean? I make attempts to be polite at all time, Daemyn," he replied in a monotone.

Erza scratched the back of her head. Daemyn seemed taken aback that that attempt had done absolutely nothing. Jake facepalmed. I almost did the same. They thought that would work? They needed something seriously funny to bring up that guy's mood.

Eventually, I felt ready to begin again. I had also groomed my fur a bit. It had become a habit after having to attend a few meetings. For some reason, using my tongue felt awkward, but that was probably due to my being human previously. I did really want to know what humans were like, considering I had no memories, but the only other human had also lost his memories.

Maybe there were a few other human turned pokémon in the world. Hey, maybe there was even a few actual humans around in the world.

As if. All of the known world, and humans were only a legend. Caleb was looking at his own, very messy fur. It was odd to say the least. Typically, absols tend to be very self-conscious about their fur. Absol groomed himself each and every day. Sarah's fur was neat and tidy.

But Caleb was different from them. His fur was messy, and he did have that metal armor on with the green gem in it. The white metal was odd, to say the least. I had the impression that it was no normal metal.

I would know about abnormal things, being, well, me.

The way he seemed self-conscious about himself seemed to be caused by my own clean coat. The way he was trying to at least not be the scariest thing the world had to offer was appreciated on my part, but if he was pretending; I thought he did not need to.

If he was not pretending, what was up with him? Why suddenly change how you're acting?

Ten minutes later, Daemyn was now straight up telling jokes to Caleb. The poor mightyena was getting no reaction at all.

"Then, he hit his head on a rock immediately!" Daemyn finished his most recent joke. Caleb looked at him blankly. Daemyn seemed to give up. "Fine, you try a joke," he said in mock defeat.

"I would rather-" Caleb began, but every one of us looked at him with varying levels of expectancy. He sighed. "Fine, here. A man walks into a bar…" he began, and we eagerly awaited a punchline. "He then says: 'ow'" Caleb finished.

He had said it in a monotone, and it took several seconds for us to get it, but it was actually funny to me. "Pfffff.." Erza tried holding in her laughter, holding her chest, and immediately she tripped having stopped paying attention to the road ahead. She tumbled through the grass for a while.

Caleb skidded to a stop with the rest of us. "Sorry, Erza. If I knew the effect that would have…" Caleb trailed off. Erza was laughing her head off. "That's brilliant!" she exclaimed, "I'll have to remember that!"

"Me too," Daemyn added.

I could no longer hold it in. I began to laugh quietly. I too thought it was funny. However, at the look of Caleb, I calmed down a bit. His eyes on me again, and I grew scared once more. Even while cringing slightly, I was trying to figure out how he had said something so funny in that monotone voice.

Caleb looked at everyone again. Erza and Daemyn were laughing still, Jake was doubled over, arms around his stomach, laughing hard. Swampert and Charizard had identical smirks on their faces. Absol was keeping his face straight, but after knowing him so long, I knew that he was amused. Magnezone and Shedinja had no faces to make expressions with, but I could only assume they were at least chuckling inside.

Therefore, that left Caleb as the only one not laughing.

"I am surprised that was taken so well. Where I come from, it is common to the point that others do not laugh. I should have assumed that you would not have heard it before," Caleb said, analyzing the situation.

 _Where he comes from?_

I got that much from what he had said. Where was he from? What did he mean by the fact that he should have assumed that none of us had heard it before?

Absol nodded in response to that. What was that darn teammate of mine not telling me now? What the heck? I would have to talk to him later about that. I was actually rather frustrated with his performance on that.

Sometimes, that particular absol was just too vague. His protectiveness was making him too tired to handle some things. Even pokémon have limits.

 _Again, something that came out of nowhere. The only inhabitants of this world are pokémon, and I haven't a clue what limits humans have. I'm just saying things…_

The point the others had to gather was that Caleb was going to be silent as a stone throughout the day today. At least, the chances of him laughing at anything was basically zero.

He was pretty much a rock in terms of emotion on the outside, but his eyes still held pain in them.

While the others tried to make him laugh, I decided to find out why that look was in his eye. The others seemed not to have noticed it besides Sarah, who now looked slightly worried. The mix of worry and adoration in her eyes was freaky to me.

We began our run once more. Caleb seemed to have a glaze over his eyes, to the point where he was running slightly faster than he should have done for a bit before shaking his head and slowing down. He was fighting to pay attention; his mind was elsewhere.

My thoughts were interrupted by a boulder, which I barely dodged by jumping over it.

 _I need to pay more attention…_

The last time I failed to pay attention to where I was going, I slammed straight into a rock. Charizard had laughed and said that it had been so comical the way I had slid down the rock with my face flattened against it. Apparently, my tail had been sticking straight out in surprise too.

 _Apparently, that's the kind of thing that's funny._

Should I try to make Caleb laugh? He was in some sort of turmoil, but how could anybody make him laugh? There were more obstacles coming along. I noticed that Caleb was heading straight for one, and he was not slowing down or moving. His eyes were glazed over, clearly deep in thought.

If it was funny to others when it happened to me, people might laugh at Caleb. The last thing Caleb needed was that, that much was obvious.

"Watch out!" I yelled to him, but I was not the only voice calling. Sarah had reached my conclusion at the same exact time. Caleb blinked, saw the tree, and just barely dodged out of the way.

He looked back at is as he continued to move. He sighed in apparent relief, his tone of voice much lighter than normal as if his shield had broken for just that moment.

"Thank you. Both of you" Caleb said to the both of us, first looking at me and then at Sarah. Sarah smiled, while I looked away, suddenly worried that that piercing glare would turn on me once more.

 _God damn it, just smile at him or something! Stop being afraid!_

But fear won out this time around. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw sadness sink back into Caleb's eyes. So that was it. He felt that others were separating from him more. The pain came from feeling that he was pushing others away, but why keep acting like that if that was the case?

Maybe the best thing to do was to ask him. The only person like me was Jake, so perhaps I could talk to him without chickening out. I could indirectly ask Caleb what was up. Would that work?

 _I should be getting my act together, not being sneaky._

Nevertheless, being sneaky helped me ease my fears. I could not make myself confront Caleb directly, certainly not.

Then I remembered that I had been afraid of Absol for a long time. Charizard had known that he should join the team pretty much from the moment we met him, but it took an entire year for me to get used to him. Maybe eventually things would go better. Maybe if he would stop looking at me with that piercing gaze he gave everyone.

It was amazing I was the only one quailing under that gaze. Whatever a quail was.

 _Again… it's happened more today than any other day in my life…_

Finally, we made it to a strange place where the landscape seemed to change. "This is it. Once we're all inside, the area behind us will change to what's in front of us," Sarah said, looking down at the rolling hills and grass. "We'll either need to find the exit or teleport back with the badges."

Caleb and Absol both nodded at the same time. It was almost creepy. They even looked similar, though not identical. After some silent agreement, we stepped into the field. I looked back to see the old landscape fade away to be replaced by more of the same, and the different landmarks in the distance faded away in all directions.

We were inside the tiny meadow. It was in no way tiny. In fact, it looked infinite.

"Why is this place called the tiny meadow?" Jake asked, mirroring my thoughts.

Caleb looked about. "It is likely due to the fact that it is small before one enters it. It may have been named before they realized it was a mystery dungeon," he reasoned.

"Aaaand that's why you're the thinker of this team," Jake said, patting Caleb on the back. Caleb winced just as I did. I had no idea why I did, but Caleb seemed to share the thought I apparently had.

"Jake, you know he doesn't like being petted!" Erza reprimanded the raichu, who immediately looked down.

"Sorry…" he muttered. Then he looked Caleb in the eyes. "Caleb, is there anything at all you can be happy about?"

The challenge presented in front of Caleb was direct and unavoidable. Caleb grimaced at that. I thought he would say 'nothing', but he did surprise me with a full paragraph instead.

"I can only be glad you are all safe," Caleb said, eyes distant, "That you survived the attacks I directly caused. That's all I can be happy about now. Everything else I liked other than you all, my friends, disappeared when I failed to go through that portal."

There was some confusion on the part of my team, particularly me. Attacks he caused? Portal? What? The others grimaced and looked down all at once. "Caleb, you need to stop beating yourself up for that. It's not like you were in control," Sarah said soothingly. She moved a little closer to Caleb, who was not paying attention.

" **Shedinja** "

"Like **that** can happen…" Caleb muttered.

Absol, Charizard, and Magnezone looked at me now. What the heck was up with the three of them? I would tell them to cut it out later. For now, there was serious training to be done, no matter how much we actually needed.

And then it looked like Caleb had just responded to Shedinja, which made no sense either. Caleb could not understand Shedinja earlier. I could ask about that too, but if it was important it would come up in conversation. Perhaps Caleb just took a guess.

 _If he's anything like Absol, that's not going to happen._

There was an uncomfortable silence before Caleb stepped forward again. "We are wasting daylight," he said to the entire group, loud enough to be heard, but only just.

Absol continued his sentence for him. "Training is what we are here for. We had best begin now. Charizard, I want you and Magnezone to improve your dodging from lightning and fire techniques respectively."

"Sarah, you will be working on combat today rather than healing, so we have brought plenty of reviver seeds and oran berries. Now, Daemyn, I think you should practice your faint attack some more, and practice it on Sarah. Sarah, improve your absol sense so that you can see farther and hopefully see Daemyn. Daemyn will be attacking you, so he should be easier to spot when there is a danger," Caleb instructed.

"Erza, please test Amber's speed for a while today. Amber will need to move on to other exercises later," Absol said.

"Swampert, I want you to try and hold your own against the tangela twins," Caleb said, "And Jake, I want you to work on defensive strategies. From what I heard of the, ah, incident, you can block something effectively with iron tail".

Both of them nodded, and Absol turned to Bastiodon and Machoke. "Physical strength is clearly what you will be working on, Machoke and Bastiodon…" Absol said, but he faltered. He did not know what Bastiodon needed to work on.

"Maybe let Machoke try and lift him. Should be good exercise for Machoke and Bastiodon needs little training anyway," Daemyn said, seeming to joke at first and then putting some reason in there.

And then there was Shedinja. "Shedinja, we have not fully explored your attacks up to this point. Try using some of the moves you used to have, and please attempt to use different ghost type techniques as well," Caleb instructed.

Shedinja floated up and down when Caleb looked at him, maybe the equivalent of nodding. Just like that, we all had something to do. Absol and Caleb walked up to each other, almost like one walking up to a mirror.

"Over here, Amber!" Erza called from where she was standing, suddenly on another hill. I stared. How the heck had she moved so fast? Maybe that was why I was doing speed training with her.

I ran up to the hill going down into the dip first. When I got up, Erza was not there at all.

"This will not only be speed training," Erza said behind me, making me bristle and shiver "This will be training for awareness."

I whirled to face her. I had been terrified of that little trick. In fact, I was breathing heavily. Erza pointed off into the distance. "Far away there, that hill is slightly taller than the others. We will race to it. With my speed, it should take five minutes. All attacks and, ah, foul play is completely legal in this race," She said.

 _Foul play? Like we would be attacking each other while we ran? For five minutes?_

This was training I had not experienced before. I would have none of my team members to be there for me because they were all busy. I was alone here, with Erza, who had shown the capability to be scary when she needs to be. She was trying to make a point that training with her was serious, but did she have to go about it like that?

Suddenly, Erza shot forward. I reacted, whirling around and activating quick attack. To my surprise, the white flames of quick attack didn't flow around Erza. She was keeping pace with me without it?!

I was moving faster than she was, only because she was not using it. I could win like that, but I realized too late that we would be attacking too. Erza's glowing flail appeared in her hand, and she promptly bashed me in the face with it.

I had not been ready with a counterattack, so I was knocked away and whimpered where I had fallen while Erza went on to finish her race. That attack had hurt a ton more than I thought it would. She had completely reversed my momentum with it.

Fast and powerful, Erza had the skills she needed to become a true contender in this tournament. My vision was spinning, but I forced myself to the feet and stumbled around a bit.

I ran the rest of the distance, using quick attack.

"Right, now…" Erza said, pointing farther away, "There was a flash as light was reflected off of something. That thing would clearly be different. I could not estimate its distance. However, we will race for it again. This time, I want you to defend yourself."

I hoped I was ready for this. I was afraid, yes, but I was capable of fighting. I braced myself this time and Erza only got a second of a head start this time. Again, there was no quick attack on her part.

I jumped over the flail this time, but I lost a lot of ground in the process. That was not going to work. Gathering energy, I charged towards her and passed her on the other side. I had to duck under her rapier, and spun when I was ahead. My tail turned into tempered steel as I attacked.

It looked like Erza had not moved at all, but she somehow avoided my attack and only lost the tiniest amount of speed. I, however, lost every ounce of speed I had to launch that attack.

I activated quick attack again and sprinted to catch up with Erza. I was a bigger distance away from Erza at this point. Unfortunately, glowing rainbow leaves appeared around Erza and flew at me at an impressive speed. I was moving faster, but the leaves chased me.

 _Magical leaf sucks…_

Erza brought out a vine and gripped her rapier in it. Great, now it was long range. She started stabbing at me in an attempt to slow me down. This time, I could not do anything about it. I knew I would lose much more ground if I tried to block. Being a quadruped is annoying to say the least.

She was definitely slowing me down by stabbing me in the side with that rapier of hers. Finally, I just turned and bit down on the thing. It cut into my mouth a bit, but I held it fast. Erza raised an eyebrow and tried to yank me into the air.

I was having none of that, however. It was time to fight back. I pulled down instead, my abnormal strength keeping the weapon in place. Now Erza could not get that far ahead of me without dropping her nice leaf blade.

We rose over a hill and saw a big flat area ahead. There was something on the far side of it. Erza then smiled, making me quite afraid. "There's a reason I forge an energy ball into my weapons instead of using leaf blade you know!" she called. I could not answer through the sword in my mouth.

 _Energy ball? Don't those-... Oh, son of a-_

 **BOOM!**

The blade in my mouth exploded on a mental command from Erza. I was blasted backwards, my hold on Erza gone in a burst of smoke. This was quite an inconvenience. The last time someone shoved an explosive in my mouth…

Erza grimaced. "I overdid it. Sorry," She apologized. I tasted something all of a sudden. It tasted really bad. What was it? Erza placed the oran berry in my mouth, and I took a bite immediately.

After I got a little energy back, I was able to chow down on the berry myself.

"Erza's flail dissipated. Thankfully without blowing up.

But now I felt better after the oran berry was eaten. I could have used a sitrus berry though. Erza began running again, over to the object. I wobbled a bit, and then walked along to see what she had found.

It was a small chest, about as big as I was. It was open and Erza seems to have taken an oran berry out of it. There were some other things as well.

"Is that a speed band?" I asked, coming closer. Erza lifted it out.

"Yes, yes it is. This is… perfect actually" Erza said. I did not like that look in her eyes as she got an idea.

I tried to ignore her and look through the rest of the items. Most of them were berries. I went ahead and ate another oran berry to restore my strength fully. Erza looked at me now. "That's some impressive strength, Amber," she complimented.

"Th-thanks," I stammered in response. I cursed myself in my mind. If I could just speak properly with people… Fear gets in the way.

Erza tossed me the speed band. "Put that on. This speed band is missing something. Can you guess what it is?" she asked. I inspected the band. It had some of the markings that identified it as a speed band, the shape, size, ugly pink color. One thing it was missing was the slight gold coloring one could barely see on the edges.

"It's incomplete!" I exclaimed. I had never heard of an incomplete speed band.

"That's right. What it is missing, specifically, is the ability to allow you to keep your footing while you run. Essentially, you're running on your own ability. And while that may be easy enough on its own, we will not just be using that band."

I looked up at Erza. "Then what will we be doing?" I asked, fearing the answer slightly.

"We will take turns with the band, starting from this point. We will use quick attack **and** the incomplete speed band, and see how far we can go without tripping," Erza explained.

"Wha… What!?" I exclaimed, backing up. She wanted me to do something that painful?

"That's right," Erza said, pilling two metal rods with a pointy end on one end. Iron thorns. "We'll use **these** to mark our progress. At that speed, tripping is sure to leave a mark, as is rolling around of course but the first mark is what matters. Because this place regenerates, we'll have to stab the spikes into the ground where the mark is each time."

"This is crazy!" I shouted. I realized I was no longer stuttering In the middle of all this fear; Erza seems to have earned my trust just a little bit. "What are we even aiming for?"

"We are going to keep doing this until you can do as well or better than I can," Erza said, "We're taking a page out of Absol's book here. Granted, I will be improving as well so this should take a while. Hey, we each get chances to laugh at each other tumbling across the field without any control."

However, one thing stuck out in my mind there. "Where did you hear that before? Taking a page out of someone's book? I swear I've heard that before," I asked. The truth was it was something I myself have said, one of the things that I immediately asked myself why I said it because I did not know where it came from.

"Caleb was the one to use it, several days ago," Erza answered. She was suddenly guarded now. I wondered why. The way she spoke was rather stiff. Now that I found myself trusting her more, perhaps I could ask her why.

 _Also, Caleb used it?_

Erza looked at me and apparently noticed I had not put the band on yet. My legs are surprisingly versatile compared to some other quadrupeds, for example the fact that I could facepaw with relative ease, but putting on this thing? That would be difficult.

"Let me help you with that," Erza offered, and put the band on my head. The instant she did, my vision sharpened and the sides of my vision blurred. Erza turned me in a direction, and gave me an iron thorn to hold in my mouth. "Right. When you crash, rip off that band and go find the spot where you tripped," Erza instructed.

I braced myself and then shot forward with quick attack. At least I tried to. The dirt under me gave way, and I did a triple front flip in place before landing right on my face. Erza pulled the band off for me.

I whimpered as Erza took the thorn from me. "That's why your quick attack is not as fast as it can be, Amber," She said, almost to herself. I picked my face off the dirt and looked at her somewhat expectantly.

"You put too much strength into the first push," Erza informed, "You blasted apart the dirt as a result. Being light on your feet is what quick attack's all about, after all," she said. She chuckled and slammed my iron thorn into the ground right next to me, making me bristle, thinking for a moment that she had tried to impale me. I had made it a solid **zero** feet **zero** inches.

 _What an embarrassment._

Erza put the speed band around her neck and then she gripped her iron thorn. She readied herself; it was my turn to watch.

Erza shot forward, light on her feet. She flew across the flat area that was certainly important, and tripped after three seconds.

Even tripping so fast, she had made it a ridiculous distance. However, she went twice that far while tumbling. She rolled all the way out of sight. I sweatdropped at that.

That's me in a few minutes… if I can get more than a few inches.

I saw the dirt kicked up from Erza's trip start to shift towards the hole she made as it began to repair itself. Erza suddenly rushed back, speed band in hand and iron thorn in the other. She quickly stuck her thorn into the ground.

I noticed she was covered in scratches from her tumble. Maybe my fur would protect me. Erza smiled at me. "You're turn," she said, rubbing her back. She came over and prepared to put the band on.

"Hang on a second," I stopped her, "Can we talk? I have a few… unrelated questions right now."

Erza did stop. She looked at me strangely. I feared she would tell me off, but instead she sighed and plopped down onto the grass. "I know what you are going to ask," she muttered,"Something about Caleb, I assume. He's… had it rough recently. Really rough."

I sat down. "I don't feel comfortable around him. Or most people to be honest, but something about his glare…" I admitted. Erza grimaced to herself.

"Perhaps I should tell you why he stays silent as a stone every day, why he always feels pain, always apologizes for things he doesn't need to. I think if you are going to stick around us and be a friend to us as you are starting to, then you deserve to know," Erza mumbled, so quiet even my eevee ears almost did not pick it up.

Now Erza seemed to be the one that was sad. I had picked up the sorrow in Caleb's eyes, but this pain… she hates seeing her friend go through whatever torment he's going through.

"I met Caleb one day when our three teams were selected to go on a joint mission to the waterfall cavern with a special item that was supposed to change the dungeon," She began, "I was much different before I met Caleb, that was for certain. I was a terrible leader; I never paid attention to my teammates, whether they were doing all right; I almost ran the others to the ground;and on top of all that, I was a brat."

 _That sure sounded different than what she seems to be now…_

"Caleb changed that within the next few days. It was laughably easy for him to change how we acted with a few life lessons. Within days, I learned to pay close attention to how my team members were faring, as well as the team members of every team around me. I learned to also take care of myself as well, and not push myself too hard. Daemyn had undergone something similar around Caleb as well."

 _This guy was so influential with others he could change them completely in a few days? Really?_

"There was something much deeper going on, though," Erza continued, "Caleb had a weapon with him; a giant crystal sword. He liked that thing a lot, but while it absorbed attacks and took on the typing, it also reflected his mood with its colors. It turned black twice. The first time, Daemyn was shocked by its energy in that state. Daemyn began suffering pain and being uncharacteristically angry, even more than he used to act before he met Caleb."

 _That energy caused pain and anger? I have never heard of such a thing…_

"Caleb eventually found a way to return to his home with the help of Palkia, the dragon god of space. Sarah tried to follow him in the hopes of stopping him. She convinced Daemyn to help her, using his crush on her as leverage, though Daemyn had found it more complicated than that."

 _That's… horrible!_

"Don't judge Sarah too harshly. She can't really control herself, after all," Erza broke away from the story to say, "Now… Daemyn and Sarah made it to the cave where Caleb was supposed to go first. The portal was in an adjacent room to the entrance of the cave. Mightyena's pain escalated beyond control, and then…" Erza choked on that sentence.

"If you don't want to tell me-" I began, but Erza waved her hand dismissively.

"No, you deserve to know. The dark energy building in Daemyn… Transformed him. He turned into a giant monster, and lost all control of himself. He tried… That dark power made him try and kill Sarah," she said.

 _Oh.. Oh my god…_

It was unbelievable to say the least. Daemyn had been forced to do that? That was horrible, beyond anything that should have ever happened. But where did Caleb come in?

"Caleb found them when Sarah was on the verge of death; bleeding out and dying," Erza continued, "His rage flew out of his control completely. He thought Sarah had died already. He promised to kill Daemyn—not recognizing his friend because of the mutations Daemyn had gone through—then his sword build up too much dark energy and shattered, the dark power being released. That dark energy sunk straight into Caleb."

"So he…" I began, but I could not finish. Caleb had clearly been forced into the same thing.

"I had chased down all of them to the cavern, hoping that I was not too late to stop Sarah. However, Caleb and Daemyn had already begun their fight. I found Sarah, but she was not responsive in the slightest. The guild members were setting up a massive teleport to get there, but they had yet to arrive. The two of them… I couldn't even recognize them, Amber."

At this point, Erza looked like she was actually near tears. Completely mutated into different forms, and judging by the fear deep in Erza's eyes, they had become proper monsters, not even their friends could recognize them.

"Sarah was down, and I was doing my best to protect her, but I drew the attention of both beasts and had to avoid their attacks. Both of them were completely gone at that point. Caleb had similar features to an absol, but his bladed appendages were serrated and badly bent out of shape; his tail had become a blade of dark energy that whipped about. Daemyn had become something not even recognizable as a mightyena and had three tails of energy that whipped around. The only reason I recognized one of them was that Caleb's armor had stayed on; althoughit was different colors I recognized it".

 _That moment must have been the most painful of all when she noticed…_

"When the rest of the guild arrived, they were thrust into combat. Many of us almost died; though we stayed alive, thanks to Wigglytuff's heal pulse. When Sarah was brought back to her feet, we all learned whom the monsters actually were. Wigglytuff eventually became badly injured and was bleeding profusely, no longer able to heal us. Because he could not heal himself, he actually gave his heal pulse to Sarah somehow, making Sarah the only absol to be able to use heal pulse."

 _At which point Sarah began healing the others._

"The only reason we really stayed alive was probably because the two monsters spent as much time fighting each other as they did fighting us. We were unable to stop Caleb as he stabbed Daemyn through the heart with his shadow claws. The dark power poured straight out of Daemyn and into Caleb, who froze for a few minutes while the dark powers combined. Sarah was able to use heal pulse on Daemyn in time to save his life."

 _Sarah saved everyone with that, then. I don't know any more whether to be happy or frustrated that she came along to stop Caleb from going… Wherever he was going to go. Wherever it was, it must have been important._

"Caleb regained his speed and suddenly, he mutated even more. His muscles bulged more than the skin was supposed to allow, and he was bleeding in several spots. He grew in size as well," Erza continued. I wish I had not heard that bit at all.

"Caleb began attacking us again, even striking himself when we got close to him in an attempt to hurt us. He destroyed his front paws completely with an attack each, but he was still walking like there was no pain whatsoever. Dumb luck or quick thinking saved many of us. Jake lost half of his tail for a while when he stopped Caleb's energy blade of a tail with his iron tail, but Caleb powered through it. Even so, we had a chance to clear out."

 _Jake saved some of them as well. He seems the good kind of person to be around, and knowing he's a human…_

"Our attacks did little to damage Caleb in ways that Caleb could not handle in that form. He eventually defeated every one of us until Sarah was the only one standing. Us having distracted Caleb completely when he knocked someone out, he couldn't finish them off. Sarah then made contact with one of the crystal shards, making it glow green instead of black."

"Green?" I asked aloud. Erza nodded.

"Sarah's love for Caleb won out because Caleb could not touch that green energy at all. It hurt him, and he retreated from Sarah. Sarah's crystal shard glowed until the energy began swirling out in a storm around the room. Caleb was healed very slowly as the green energy started obliterating the dark power. Once it was all gone, Sarah began to fall unconscious and dropped near Caleb, who was at that point in perfect condition."

 _so... That sounds like Disney bullshit? Whatever Disney is… Darn it. Nevertheless, Sarah did save them all in the end. What am I cursing for? Was it just something I've heard?_

"Caleb woke up and silently walked out. We woke up soon enough, but we only came right at the end. He was going to go through to portal, but he simply could not make himself do it; he could not make himself go home. He liked this place too much. His failure… It destroyed him inside. For him, there was nothing else."

 _Oh…_

"Caleb left and with the last of his energy, he walked to Sky peak, where he perhaps hoped to have some solitude. He instead ended up in the village of Shaymin. He walked into an empty building and used his badge put himself to sleep. For the next several days, he refused to wake up."

 _Was he just going to let himself starve?_

"Sarah had to go into his dream with the help of a drowzee in the hopes of convincing him to at least wake up and eat something. Sarah told me this when Caleb asked her to. The constructs in his dream, a human by the name of Riley and what was called a 'tank', apparently named Sheila attacked her on sight because she was an intruder. Another dream construct by the name of Amaterasu helped her survive Sheila, who almost killed the both of them. When Sarah finally got past these lines of defense, she found Caleb on top of a mountain in his dream, which had a lake in it. The water had entirely frozen over, and Caleb was waiting in the middle of a red lightning storm."

Red is the color of anger, right? And to put up lines of defense to kill her… And a human!? How did I not catch that the first time? What does that mean? He must know Jake is a human or something if he were to have a human in his dream, but how would he know what one looks like?

"When Sarah tried to near him, he…" Erza choked. It was very difficult for her to continue. I was patient, however. "Caleb attacked Sarah. His power over his dream made him impossibly powerful, and he was enraged beyond anything Sarah had ever seen. He blamed her for his not being able to leave, just as every one of the rest of us did."

 _Everyone blamed her? I guess it would never have happened like that if she had not followed Caleb, but… If that had not happened, how would Sarah have gotten the crystal to fix Daemyn when he transformed somewhere else?_

"Caleb was beyond reason completely. He had spent many days doing nothing but think about it, and his rage grew the entire time. He was ready to destroy anyone who dared disturb him ever again. Sarah told me he had specifically mentioned that 'she dared disturb the only place he has left'."

 _The only place he had left in the entire world, I suppose. That's horrible! He failed to go home, wherever that home is, and he did not see this place as his home…_

"Caleb was ready to kill Sarah, even though he was in control this time. However, any attack he fired that would have killed Sarah never hit their mark. He was not capable of killing her because deep down, he did not truly want to. Eventually, he just broke down. Ever since then…"

"He's blamed himself for everything instead," I finished, finally understanding. Of course his mood was so down. Unless they could get that off his shoulders, he would never so much as smile.

"And he realized that the reason he could not go through that portal was because he himself liked this place too much, and he did not want to leave. That alone would not have permanently caused damage to him, but he left a family behind. He believed it was the ultimate betrayal to everything he knew, if only because he could never return to his home. He does his best to contain those emotions. That's why he shows absolutely nothing on his face."

"Why not?" I asked suddenly, "Why can't he just travel across the ocean instead and find them?"

Erza's sad glance muted my question. "His home's not a place you can just sail to, Amber," she said quietly.

What did that mean? "Where's he from?" I finally asked, really confused. Erza looked in the general direction that the others were blowing stuff up, releasing dust into the air in the distance. "The human world," she finally answered.

She looked at my now wide eyes. I had gone stiff, and I was disbelieving at first, but there was no lie in Servine's eyes. Caleb was… He was…

"Caleb used to be human," Erza confirmed.

* * *

 **Complete rundown of the ending of book one? Check.**

 **But seriously, I had little other way to tell Amber that Caleb had been a human before without just throwing it out there like somebody would throw out a used candy wrapper. I did not really want to do that.**

 **Continue reviewing, please! I love to learn what you think of my chapters, though I would like to know a few specific things.**

 **1: In book two (or even book one, really), what scene or moment did you like the most that comes to mind? For example, if you found something funny or well written, I would love to know. Not only will it help me learn what some find funny or consider good writing, it also allows me to re-live that part of the story. Sometimes finding those moments in the lengthy story is difficult for me. They're somewhere in there, I know that much.**

 **2: I have asked this before, but who is your favorite character? I know there are some new ones, and a few have changes in the time since book one. This won't help me that much, but I still want to know.**

 **3: ... That's really it, actually. I know! Tell me whether you think I did well on this chapter in particular, in the sense of writing. Was it funny? Did it make sense? As much sense as this world can make at least?**

 **Character bios are welcome! I put some cameos in here of course, but the main tournament will involve all of the characters I have been given so far. That's when everybody shows up, even if it takes a few rounds in the tournament. I have every single OC given to me written down and prepared for battle, so don't be afraid to send more in! There's lots of room in the tournament.**

 **I still prefer that OC's be sent via PM to avoid spoilers. That way, nobody who reads the reviews knows what's coming.**

 **Thank you all for reading chapter four of the Absolite Chronicles, and have a pleasant day!**

* * *

 **Nickname:**

 **Age:**

 **Gender:**

 **Species:**

 **Personality:**

 **Background (this may be lengthy):**

 **Unique Aspect (optional):**

 **Other:**


	5. Chapter Five

**Me: Reaction time! This is chapter five here. Chapter six is actually ready and will be posted tomorrow, as recompense for my being unable to post a chapter last week. Sorry, by the way.**

 **Amber: You were busy... So was Jango I imagine.**

 **Jango: Ah, memories. Tormenting Aurorabeam Corporation's characters was fun.**

 **Me: It's time for reviews. Let's look at the two from chapter one first...**

 **Amber: Let Jango do it. I'll keep him from saying anything too bad to them.**

 **Jango: Thanks for the support. These are from Vile Slanders. Oh. Caleb. yeah, the bloke won't show emotion much. Tries to remain professional and in control of himself. Tries to avoid panicking and such. And of course you detect PMD stuff. It's a PMD world. Let the court hear the defendant's claim: GUILTY.**

 **As for your second review, Yeah. Hyper was really bad at punctuation at first.**

 **Me: Oi!**

 **Amber: But he's much better at it and has Pigeoncracker to help him.**

 **Jango: Whatever. Yeah, you noticed the incredible amount of exposition and declarations from our favorite thickheaded genius. He just keeps talking, doesn't he? And he has a rather violent reaction to racism.**

 **Amber: Thankfully, not too many pokemon express such things aloud around this region.**

 **Jango: Speak for yourself. I wanted more destruction of racist people. Yeah, the hothead is crazy and Caleb is a seemingly emotionless guy. I always wanted to know what changed that... Oh wait, I do. I'm just not telling any of you. Her weird personality considering her status is explained later. I have to say, even I feel bad for her.**

 **Amber: no, no you don't.**

 **Jango: Now it's my turn to plead guilty.**

 **Me: And don't worry about long reviews. They tell me a lot.**

 **Jango: Now... Book two reviews. That one...**

 **Me: Random Statistic? What? Please keep reviews at least somewhat relevant...**

 **Jango: Here are some of your usuals, Hyper. Phillip Harbindinger wants to know how Amber will break her secret. Well, one of them.**

 **Amber: That one took me a while...**

 **Jango: And Pigeoncracker is fine. We've been focusing our attention on somebody else, so Pidge is fine. He wasn't able to edit this chapter because reasons, but he got chapter six done at least. Let's see... Raven6229... Hahahaa! I'm the one talking here, so sucks to be you. Let's see... Oh, you cried about Caleb's decision, did you? Nice. No judging, I promise. My claws are totally not crossed at all. And... Really? Twenty seconds? it took you that long to-**

 **Amber: You know, it'll be best if I take that now. *Rips the review away from Jango* Okay... Wait, flypaper? What? What will that do to let Jango get past me?**

 **Jango: Flypaper... Oh, does that give me ideas!**

 **Amber: Thanks. You've ruined us.**

 **Me: As for what you want, I have my plans for the story. You'll see.**

 **Jango: *takes the reviews back* Next is Westernfail... Dude, We've been hinting at it all the time... The mention of the meteor, all those other hints... Oh well. ZLAXE next... Oh. What is this?**

 ***Jango hides part of the review after cutting it out***

 **Amber: Jango, what was that?**

 **Jango: Oh, nothing.**

 **Amber: Jango...**

 **Jango: Not today! *Escapes by becoming invisible***

 **Amber: No you don't! *Charges away***

 **Me: ...okay... *Picks up the remains*. Why would he cut out the third paragraph? Oh well. I hope nothing important was there. Thanks for answering my questions. Oh yes, that. Not even I know what was going through Caleb's head at that point. I guess even people like him need a laugh. Yeah, I realized that Shedinja needed a way to be understood though I had planned it to be a bit earlier. As I wrote, however, I realized the way I wanted him to be understood would result in it being discovered earlier.**

 **Who's that then? Sort of glad Jango and Amber cleared out now. Jango would try to strike a conversation and it would be difficult to slow down his attempts at annoying whoever that is. Glad you like the story...**

 **Okay then. It's time to get on with the chapter. You read it while I figure out where those two just went...**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: The Pain of Memory**

 **❊ Amber's POV ❊**

I openly gaped at Erza. That absol… he had been a human previously? "He's… like Jake?" I asked though that was not my real question.

He's… like me?

How could he be like me? He was so much different than Jake or I. He was… Dark. Cold. Serious. Why was he different from me and Jake?

"Why is he so different from Jake?" I asked, avoiding the subject of me. I did not trust her **that** much. However, I did trust her enough to talk to her without being fearful. Somehow I was not terrified of the grass type, even though she took me apart with her weapons with relative ease. It was amazing I was able to even mutter a word towards her.

"Caleb… kept his memories of his human life" Erza said slowly. I tried to grasp that. He was serious all the time because he actually remembered his past? I had imagined that it would be the opposite, that a human who remembered his past would be happy.

"What is the human world like?" I ask, hoping that Erza had been talking with Caleb about it. Erza looked me in the eyes. "It would be best for you to ask Caleb, no?" she asked in return.

I shuddered. "Caleb… He scares me. I need to get used to having him around like I got used to you being nearby" I answered. Erza chuckled now. "Yes, he can be intimidating with that stare, can't he? He pays close attention to just about everything nowadays, always analyzing. He doesn't really rest anymore" she said.

 _And the traumatizing events he suffered probably just make that worse…_

That sad thought had me wincing in sympathy. Erza eventually sighed and stood up. "We've spent a lot of daylight talking about that. I believe it's my turn to try running" she commented, ending the conversation and taking the incomplete speed band.

Erza stood in the same spot that we had both done the last time we tried to do this. With little hesitation, she put on the band and darted forward. She barreled towards the earlier spike and tripped again. She made it one more foot than before, and I ended up watching her tumble away for quite a while.

Erza barely made it back to put the iron thorn in its new place. Then, she came up with an idea. "I know!" she exclaimed suddenly "Whoever is running, the other pokemon should move the iron thorn. That should make it a little easier, no?"

I agreed that yes, that would make things easier. I nodded eventually to the grass type. It was my turn, unfortunately. I was prepared to crash and burn once more. Maybe I would make it more than zero inches.

Erza helped me put the band on, and I prepared to go.

 _"Being light on your feet is what quick attack's all about after all"_ Erza had told me. I tried not to push off with as much force. I did go forward this time, but I lost my footing immediately and once again my face met the ground.

This was far worse though. I flew forward, tail streaming out behind me, and I plowed a ten-yard trench with my face. Everything went black after that though I had ended up being awake for the whole crash.

Erza revived me, still laughing her tail off. It seems she was acting differently around me than the others. Instead of the scary person I had met, she was happier and it was easier to make her laugh.

 _Perhaps she knew she was frightening me… She was willing to act differently around me because of that._

And suddenly, I realized that Erza really was a good friend. To everyone. I now understood why Daemyn and Sarah liked her being around even though she actively terrified them.

Simply put, she was good with people in general.

I found myself laughing along her, even as I rubbed my short snout in pain. My quiet laughter increased just a little bit as I looked at the trench I had made, which the dungeon was trying desperately to fix. The damage was deep. How fast did I have to go to do that much damage? Erza had placed the iron thorn where the start of the trench was, which thankfully was a bit further away than last time, though only about a meter.

"At least the ground isn't pushing the thorns out of the ground" Erza commented. That certainly was a good thing I supposed. If the ground was fixing itself to that extent, it would be impossible to do this exercise.

"I wonder how the others are doing…" I muttered as Erza prepared to throw herself across the field again.

 **⽕ Sarah's POV ⽕**

"Ow!" I yelped as I was slammed into the air by another faint attack. Gods, Daemyn was being an annoying bugger. As I crashed against the ground again, getting my horn stuck in the dirt, I silently sent a mental stream of curses at the mightyena.

I growled and fired off a water pulse at Daemyn. The blue glowing sphere passed through the air as he started up that stupid invisibility of his.

Remembering what Caleb told me to do, I tried to sense Daemyn with my absol sense. Once again, I felt absolutely nothing. His faint attack was so perfectly executed that I could not actually sense him at all. It did not help that I was rubbish at detecting things with my special senses.

 _Which is why Caleb wanted me to work on it._

I had never hit Daemyn at all. My flamethrower torched nothing but grass. My water pulse only managed to hit the dirt (or Jake once). Daemyn just kept beating me down until I fainted, then shoved a reviver seed in my mouth and we continued to go at it.

"Dammit you prick, let me hit you!" I yelled in a random direction. Mightyena's voice came from behind me. "Then you wouldn't learn anything" he replied cooly behind me. I whirled and blasted the area behind me with fire. This earned me a faint attack to the flank two seconds later.

I was breathing hard as I shook shakily to my feet. Before Daemyn took the time to disappear again, Absol tumbled onto the ground in between us, completely unconscious.

"One hit" Caleb muttered, approaching us. He looked between the two of us. "Sarah, have you managed to strike Daemyn?" He asked. I hung my head in a sudden sense of shame. Daemyn shook his head. "If you couldn't sense him when he was using his absol sense, how can I?" I asked, hoping that Caleb would have some bit of wisdom for me.

And oh boy, did he not disappoint.

"You are using your physical senses, correct?" he asked. At my nod, he shared a glance with Daemyn. "Attack me, Daemyn." he commanded. Daemyn glanced at me, and then turned invisible again.

Caleb stood absolutely still. Not even his eyes moved. I found myself focusing on those eyes for just a moment. They were glazed, like he was tired beyond anything else. It hurt to see him like that. It reminded me too much of the time I had gone to his dream and he had looked utterly destroyed.

This was too close for my tastes.

Suddenly, Caleb spun to his right and planted his paw on something. Skid marks appeared on front of him, and Daemyn rematerialized, surprised. Caleb's paw was directly on Mightyena's snout and forehead, having stopped him cold.

"I did not use my physical awareness whatsoever to stop Daemyn" Caleb told me, looking in my direction "Can you tell me how?"

"No…" I said immediately, but Caleb shook his head at that. "Sarah, you haven't even thought about it. What types of senses are absols capable of?" he asked.

I took a moment to answer. What was Caleb getting at? "We can detect the surroundings, natural disasters, closer range danger, and in rare cases, dying heartbeats" I answered, wincing because I had reminded myself about that particular aspect of my life. I was terrible at using my absol senses because my strength in that regard is just about the worst special ability out there.

The few times I had heard a dying heartbeat, it had turned me into an emotional wreck. Except for the situation with Daemyn, where I had nearly gotten killed. Nobody could hold that against Daemyn though. it wasn't his fault.

But Caleb was trying to make a point. What was that point? "C'mon, Caleb" I pleaded "what do I need to do?"

Caleb looked me right in the eyes. I thought that pained look changed a little bit, but for the life of me I could not figure out whether it was worse or better. "Sarah, it would be for the best for you to figure this out by yourself. I am going to help you, but in the future you may need to reach a conclusion like this on your own."

"Why?" I asked, now curious. Caleb kept eye contact with me. "Because I won't always be around to help you figure things out. Now. You can't see Daemyn with your physical senses. What should you feel just before Daemyn strikes?"

"Eh…" I muttered, unsure. however, he clearly wanted me to help myself with this. He wanted me to think for myself. So I thought. Not physical senses but… Close range danger sense? Maybe… If Daemyn was to be about to attack me, I would be in danger, right?"

Caleb seemed to see my eyes light up. "You understand? When you took the time to think about it, you came up with the solution in a matter of minutes. You are very smart, yet you wait for me to help you" he complimented.

I brightened up. "You really think so?" I asked, eyes shining. It had been too long since I received a direct compliment from Caleb. I almost jumped for joy, really.

 _Boy, am I hopeless…_

Maybe someday I could control my emotions. But… Did I really want to try? To try and ignore my emotions with **Caleb** around? Messy fur, strong muscles, a genius. Just what I always needed in my life.

Not really. I did not really want to try and control my emotions. I just felt like I was walking on air around the guy. The problem was, he blamed himself for everything. he was hurting himself like that. I knew he was in torment. I wanted to help him with that.

But he blew off every encouraging sentence we gave him. The attempts to make him laugh had ended in almost brutal failure. It was horrible that we were not able to bring him out of that depression.

I just wanted to nuzzle him and say everything was okay, but he seemed to get angrier when I did something like that. Just this morning he seemed thoroughly pissed off when Loudred had gotten the wrong idea from my actions.

 _Maybe something else… Something else… I love being near him, but i'm only making him angry by trying to make him love me back… I **could** just enjoy being near him, but… That's not good enough._

"Yes, Sarah. You have shown several times your intellect. Even your… unsatisfactory actions have done little to deter this fact. Now… Attack her, Daemyn" Caleb instructed.

 _Unsatisfactory actions… loosely translated as unnecessary moves of affection._

Then I registered the other part of his sentence, and Daemyn was nowhere to be seen. I tuned in with my absol sense, but I was no longer focusing on the physical surroundings. As instructed, I focused on danger instead. The world went black as my eyes were closed, and there was absolute silence.

Not complete silence of course. there was the wind now that I was noticing it. There was the occasional thump as Daemyn lightly tapped the ground and launched himself again.

No danger yet. It had been a minute. Then, the danger came… Directly in front of me. It was a flash of color in the dark for me, seeing him charging to make the actual attack. This time, it was now or nothing. I opened my mouth, and blew my best flamethrower yet straight into Daemyn.

Daemyn howled with pain as he was thrown clear. I opened my eyes to see the completely blackened and crashing through the grass. I looked to Caleb to see what he thought. I was ecstatic, because I had actually done it.

And then I actually saw Caleb. His front half was also burned black. However, his face was impassive. There was some pain in his eyes of course, the physical kind of pain. "Well done, Sarah" he said dully.

Caleb instructed us to do that a few more times, and after him and Daemyn ate some rawst berries, and Caleb revived his unconscious teacher, Daemyn and I got back to work.

 _This is going to be a long day…_

 **⽯ Caleb's POV ⽯**

"I must apologize, Absol. I took the time to assist Sarah with a technique before reviving you" I apologized. Absol looked from Sarah to me, and I sent him a look that hopefully gave the message: _"If you take that the wrong way, I will not be happy"_

"Of course" Absol replied easily, matching my tone. "Now, before we move on to a new technique, the one known as slash, I will see how your attack can do against me in one scenario where I am fighting back".

Absol then vanished. My absol sense no longer detected him. I almost wanted to smirk, though I held myself back. He would not be doing this if he had been awake for me dealing with Daemyn.

He was coming directly behind me, the danger all too evident. I took a single step to the side and put my paw on his head as he barreled past. I slammed him into the grass just like I do with Sarah on several occasions, but his momentum carried him forward. He was sent flipping from my grasp.

And straight into Sarah's water pulse that blasted him to the side. His yelp of surprise sounded rather high pitched. He had expected my counterattack, but in no way had he expected Sarah's. He likely had little idea that Sarah had accidentally hit him at all.

I made my decision as he was near the ground: Time to see if I can hit a moving target. My night slash sailed towards where he should land. To my surprise, it hit it's mark. Considering that I have to wave my head around to launch such an attack from my horn, I had to use my absol sense to know where my attack hit.

 _And it does make some sense that I would have an extra sense to go with this issue. Evolution at work… Though that words apparently means something else in this world. Why had I never asked anyone about this yet?_

Either way, what I just did would fall under the category of **overkill**. Absol was knocked out cold. I watched Sarah whip around and blast Daemyn next, who was creeping up invisibly behind her. Had she meant to his Absol?

I picked another reviver seed out of the bags that were in a safe location. I had to use my teeth, which would likely never feel normal for me ever. Just another reminder that I could never be human again, which reminded me of **why**. My betrayal.

I did not even bother to get rid of that though as I slipped the seed into Absol's mouth. Instead, I kind of sunk into it, letting myself think about it.

"Hhhhow did you do that?" Absol asked, now thoroughly shaken up. "I did not strike with the second attack; Sarah did instead. I'm certain it was an accident" I answered.

Absol snuck a glance at the bright red absol in question. "She hits like a truck…" he muttered. My eyes widened at the sound of that. "How do you know that word!?" I demanded loudly, drawing attention. Absol looked surprised. He was so shaken up that he had lost that professional aura. "Er… It was something Amber said once. It seemed fitting" he replied.

My mind was reeling at the speed of light. Now it was I who was shaken up.

 _Wha-_

 _What the hell?_

 _Amber had said it before? Perhaps she heard it somewhere, but…_

 _Where could she possibly heard that if not from a human?_

 _Or is it just another phrase that pokemon just know?_

 _But if that's the case, why did Absol say that?_

 _So… What the hell?_

And now my mind was stuck on a freaking loop. My shell-shocked expression not going away at all. I suppose it was similar to when I realized we could have dug under that stupid waterfall instead of jumping through it like a group of morons.

I never remembered getting stuck in mental loops like this. Perhaps it was another difference between pokemon and humans. Note to self: Solve mental problems. If at all possible.

"Caleb" Absol said, getting in my face and waving a paw in front of my eyes, letting me focus on him. "I will be teaching you slash next. Tomorrow I would recommend using these two attacks in a proper exercise. I would suggest taking an outlaw job. Have you done this before?" he continued.

"We have not officially taken any outlaw jobs. However, we have taken down several outlaws by accident during normal jobs or just walking around. We get attacked and fend off the pokemon, and then it turns out later that it was an outlaw we took down. I suppose we never managed to turn them in under those circumstances" I explained, snapping out of my mental loop.

Absol seemed to snap back into focus during my explanation as well. "Very well, then we shall begin training you to use slash, and then tomorrow we shall choose one or two outlaw jobs for you." he decided.

At my nod, despite my own doubts about taking two outlaws down in one day, Absol backed away for a few seconds. His horn began to glow white. "This…" Absol began, and I watched with contained amazement as his horn grew larger, reaching way behind his head, making a massive blade that had a few circular holes down the middle. "Is slash" Absol finished, and then he lunged. **At me**. I panicked for a moment before I gathered dark power and put my night slash in the way to block the attack.

However, I had been learning how to use my night slash as a long range weapon. My night slash did something weird, it felt heavier. Absol's slash hit home slamming me away and into the grass. I managed not to black out. As I stood up, feeling my weird night slash fading away, I noticed that Absol had not gotten out unscathed.

"You just managed to use your physical equivalent of night slash." Absol explained, balancing on three paws while he felt a scratch that had appeared on his other foreleg. "You will likely want to stick to throwing such an attack, though I suspect that it was on accident. Now, I want you go gather normal energy into your horn. However, instead of just doing that, I want you to imagine the blade that will be formed. Slash will not work unless you do this for the first time. However, once you have successfully used slash, it will replace scratch immediately."

"...I understand" I replied, and closed my eyes. Due to Absol's explanation, I was under the impression that this would be the blade I was stuck with, or else I would have to do this again to change the blade's shape. I tried to think. What kind of blade should I create?

For some odd reason, I had the impulse to make something fancy. I eventually decided to make a blade that could seriously damage something no matter which direction it struck in.

I imagined a large curved blade with protrusions coming out of one end that made the whole edge of the blade look like a lightning bolt, along with some extending blades pointing the other direction. Serrated weapons would do more damage anyways.

As I did this, my horn grew noticeably heavier, though residual normal type energy flowed into my muscles, allowing me to keep my head straight with the same effort. Absol sized up the blade, and I was a bit worried that I had gotten it wrong because I could not exactly see it. If I turned my head, the blade would just move as well.

"You have chosen a serrated blade that can act as such from any angle… And a decent pattern as well." Absol commented, giving me hope that it was done correctly. I also knew I had at least used the energy properly as I did not feel my normal type energy draining.

"Stop the attack" Absol commanded, and I pulled the power back, my horn shrinking back into it's normal shape. I felt that rush of energy going through my head, feeling very strong just in the area around my head until the power sunk back into my body fully.

"For the rest of the day, we shall work on bringing the blade up in a split second and attacking the opponent quickly" Absol now said. His slash reappeared in place of his horn, the fancy blade glowing white.

"Do not bring your attack up until the last possible moment" he instructed me, and then he lunged. He was right next to me in an instant, having jumped and was swinging his horn. I moved my head to the side and tried to charge my slash.

It was too slow. Actually, it was relatively quick, but relatively is useless in a battle. If I was supposed to block Absol's attack, it would have to be nearly instantaneous. Absol's slash hit home, slamming me into the dirt and knocking me out cold.

 **⽕ Sarah's POV ⽕**

I got distracted by Caleb getting nailed by Absol's attacks. I was going to obey my basic instincts when I see Caleb hurt and launch an attack at Absol, but Daemyn snapped me out of it by slamming me with another faint attack.

"Come on, Sarah, pay attention" Daemyn told me as he reappeared.

"Shove it, Daemyn. I just got distracted" I retorted.

"That's exactly what I mean, hothead!" Daemyn barked at me, making me **really** want to torch him. "Hothead?!" I asked indignantly "Watch it, mightyena breath. I can burn you easily" I challenged.

We slammed heads as we began to trade insults. Distantly, I heard Absol say something. Caleb replied something else. After a few minutes of trading poisonous insults like the best of friends, I felt something hit my head.

Caleb was holding Daemyn down, and Absol was doing the same to me. "This is a training exercise" Absol said. "Please keep on task for now. Feel free to argue later" Caleb finished. I heard the undertone of 'at least until Erza gets back', causing me to shudder. That servine was actually pretty scary at times.

Anyways, the two absol up and left after giving us a warning glance. I shook myself free of dust, and Daemyn did the same. The dust quickly flowed passed our legs and back into the ground.

"Looks like we had better keep going" Daemyn said, wary of the two absol now. I was wary of Absol, but Caleb… he would not seriously hurt me. Right? Both times he attacked me, he was either possessed or not in his right mind. Nobody could blame him either time.

But it was obvious that he blamed himself. We had to make him truly believe there was nothing he could have done to change it, and if we failed to help him with that… My poor Caleb would never recover from his depression. The last time he got too depressed, he had been ready to starve and die.

If that happened to him again, I would never, ever forgive myself for letting that happen. I loved him too much to let him go, and I knew he deserved to have such a great life that this could be for him compared to the life he had led once.

If he could simply forgive himself, everything would be fine. Caleb would lighten up, and maybe, just maybe, he could fall in love with me. He was very, very close to turning eighteen now, I could tell. He was not talking about it, but I assumed he knew. Maybe he simply didn't believe he deserved a celebration.

But he did, and we would give it to him when it happened. I would have to talk to the others about this. Becoming eighteen was a huge milestone for an absol, though the ages were different for different pokemon. Basically, he was coming of age. Becoming an adult. It was a quick transition, and he would start to act and think slightly differently. He would also start to fall in love with somebody. The emotional connection essential for making a pokemon appear probably would be far less widespread if pokemon did not instinctually fall in love.

I had turned eighteen already. Nearly a year ago, in fact. Normally, pokemon don't have this reaction to others below the coming of age, and usually only in an age range of about three years. My affections for Caleb were not caused by this, that much was for certain.

 _But Caleb's instincts could be used…_

I shook my head. What the heck was I thinking? I sounded like a evil story character plotting something. Caleb's instincts might help, but preying on that would just be cruel, right? I needed to hope that the feelings between us could someday become mutual, and maybe I could do something to change his mind, but preying on his instincts was not the answer.

Now I felt extremely guilty. At the beginning, I had not realized the full extent of my love for the male absol. Now that I did, I realized just how badly it was causing me to act. However, that guilt vanished the instant I saw his face. I just kept… Acting. I just kept trying to get to him, and would later wonder just what was the point of it.

What would he do eventually, if I kept doing this to him? What would I do? Caleb was a very patient person, but he recently seemed quite angry with me when I tried something. How far would his patience go, and what would happen when it did?

 _He could run off…_

 _But he has real friends here. People he can trust and talk to. he would not run from that even to escape me._

 _He could go into a depression…_

 _What, like the kind he's already in?_

 _He could grow angry…_

 _Would Caleb really become enraged with me? The last time was because he was too busy wallowing in self-hatred and was looking for somebody to blame. He told me that himself._

 _Tell me to go away?_

 _Perhaps… But if and only if I was actually hindering the team with these actions. At this point, I am only hindering him._

 _I'm hindering him…_

 _But what does that matter? I love him, and that will never change._

That last part was my mind losing it's sense of reason as I began to focus on Caleb and nothing else once more. I worried that I would never be able to let him go. It was like we were soulmates or something. he was exactly what I needed and wanted at all times. I had heard something like that, some story when I was a kit about two pokemon that were always fated to fall in love or some such rubbish.

I did not believe in things like that, but the similarities were there. If somebody else had found Caleb, would he be dealing with this?

Maybe not, but he would still be searching for a way home. The series of lucky events that led to his success started with that exact meeting. If that had not happened, Caleb would still not know what this place had for him, Daemyn would not have turned nice, and Erza may have not changed as much either. Caleb would not have had a chance to go home.

 _He would not have failed to go home. He hates himself for, as he calls it, betraying his family and old friends by not returning. He beats himself up over it, even if the rest of us don't agree. He's slowly stressing him out to the point of not being able to understand the basic idea of forgiveness._

If his family knew what he had been through, they would forgive him in a heartbeat if they were anything like pokemon. Then again, what did I know about them? Riley had said they were kind, but…

Maybe if he talked about his life, things would get better for him. he could talk about it instead of bottling that up inside.

Because that really could be the core of his problem.

Daemyn and I began to train again as I thought about how I was going to ask him. He would not appreciate being forced to talk to everyone, so if I asked him— **very nicely** —to talk to me, I could help him change his mood.

I made my decision and then blasted Daemyn away with fire. It would be a busy day today.

 **❊ Amber's POV ❊**

I made it a total of fifteen meters.

Erza had gotten to about forty. She took a piece of paper and wrote those numbers down. Apparently tomorrow we would be doing the same thing again. "Right. Considering my first attempt was at about twenty meters, you made decent improvement" Erza said, trying to compliment me and state the facts at the same time. Such a thing was contradictory.

Erza must have seen my odd look as I thought about why I was using so many big words recently. I expected her to take it the wrong way, but she guessed perfectly.

"Thinking in big words, are you? I'm surprised it took that long. Daemyn and I only knew Caleb for a few days before we started doing the same." She said. I had been thinking that Absol was getting to me, but if Caleb had caused such a change so quickly… Could that be the reason?

"We'd better get back to the others" Erza said, taking charge. I nodded. I had begun to grow comfortable around Erza… Somewhat. I knew as soon as she saw Sarah and Daemyn arguing again, she would be terrifying.

Which is exactly what happened.

Daemyn and Sarah were throwing insults at each other. Erza frowned and silently pulled her flail out of thin air. Knowing what was coming, I backed up silently. "In a way, doing this is quite fun" she admitted quietly to me before silently leaping towards the two of them.

The real scary part was watching her land right next to the two pokemon and glare down at them. "Am I **interrupting** something?" Erza snarled at the two, who began to shake like terrified pups. "Uh… Hi Erza?" Daemyn tried, earning himself a death glare that had him backing away, terrified.

"Nononono, you, uh, aren't interrupting anything!" Sarah went on to try, and received the same punishment of a glare.

CLANG! CLANG!

Both pokemon dropped to the ground, defeated. I backed away from Erza despite knowing it would not happen to me as well. Then again, I had gotten my own flail treatment earlier. And the exploding rapier treatment as well. Fun times.

Caleb came over to view the carnage, and sighed in slight exasperation. "Let's get back to the guild. We can have drinks at Spinda's" he offered dully. I noted that he almost said 'home' before changing his phrasing to the guild. Now that I knew he was human, there was a sense of inner trust. Knowing he did not lose his memory made me curious.

But I was still afraid of him. Until I could get that cleared up, I neither wanted to tell him about my origins nor question him about the human world. I did not want to question Jake either.

Speaking of that particular raichu… he was knocked out on a distant hill. In fact, **most** of our allies were unconscious. "What the heck happened?" Erza asked, surveying the damage.

"Mishap" Caleb and Absol replied at the same time. The duo looked ever so slightly sheepish. Bastiodon was still up, though the only others were Charizard, Sarah, Daemyn, and Erza and I. The others were knocked out cold.

If this was a mishap, what happens when these two get serious?

Erza crossed her arms. "Explain." She commanded the two of them. The looked at each other before replying. "We were attempting to combine attacks after I mastered Slash" Caleb elaborated "I attempted to combine the powers of slash and night slash, while Absol and I were sparring. My attack violently exploded, and the chain reaction made Absol's attack do so as well".

Erza looked at him incredulously. "We weren't **that** far away from you! We heard nothing!"

At this point, I muttered something about having dirt in my ears. I could not actually hear myself, because I did in fact have dirt in my ears. Some of those crashes had been nasty stuff.

Absol looked surprised at my outburst. I guess I was really shaken up if I was making statements like that. I shut up immediately under the gazes of the others. "Do you need help with that?" Erza asked kindly, her aura of 'kill you dead' that she showed around Sarah and Daemyn had completely vanished.

I flicked my ears, not responding. A little dirt came out of them, but my hearing was still slightly impaired. Eventually, I shyly nodded. Erza shoveled out some clotted dirt from each of my ears. After she was done with that, I flicked my ears again. Most of the remaining dirt came out of my ears, though there was a bit left.

 _Curse these massive eevee ears…_

"It certainly seems as if you should enter the guild and use the shower" Caleb commented, making most of the others look at him. I recognized the term, deep down. However, no memories surfaced.

"The waterfall room" Erza clarified. I assumed that a shower was a human term. but I was confused about what Erza was talking about as well.

"A room in the guild where warm waterfalls come from the ceiling. A place to wash up" Daemyn further clarified. Now I nodded. A shower was a place to wash up, and so was this waterfall room.

Good. I needed a place to wash up. the spring back home had always been somewhat cold. Not to mention being in a waterfall should help a bit better at getting clean than wading about in a pool and shaking myself while i'm in the water.

And that it was warm? sounds even better. It was a shame I was an eevee in this case, because my fur is pretty much the most absorptive thing, even more than an absol. I would be soaked for quite a long time. As long as it was warm…

Caleb brought out the badge that he carried in a certain pouch near his mouth. The set of bags he carried had intricate designs on it. However, obvious signs of repair were all over the harness. I decided to find out if I could get one of those so that I could help carry some things.

"I believe it is a about time to head home. I do not have the reviver seeds on my person" Caleb said, preparing to bring his team back to the guild.

By the time everybody had been revived, most of us at least wanted to laugh or was laughing. The reactions of some of those who woke up were pretty funny to a few of the others.

"Wha-happen?" I heard as somebody was revived, but I was feeding a reviver seed to Jake at the time. I did not know who it was. Jake however, had a rather amusing reaction to being blown up.

"That… That was… Saw something… Really bad…" ake mumbled, causing Daemyn to snort. Erza looked him in the eyes. "That was Caleb, our very own loose cannon" She replied, making it easy for the others to hear.

I inspected Caleb. While everyone was laughing, I caught the barest twitch of a smile. Then, it seemed to slam downward again into his impassive face, like he knew he was doing it and did not want to. The worst part of that was that he looked **ashamed**.

Why the heck would he be ashamed of being happy? I knew he was a complicated human, but seriously? What could make happiness shameful? What was going on that guy's head?

"Now that we are all awake, it would be best to head back to the guild. Wash up and the like. Then, I recommend that we meet in Spinda's cafe once more." Caleb said, planning the entire evening out the way Absol would do. He seemed to be taking over my teammate's job.

Not that I was complaining. Absol was wrecking himself with his constant vigilance. Some relief would be perfect for his health.

Caleb then touched the badge and a pink aura surrounded the badge. Not the pink of the fairy type, but the pink of the psychic type. Caleb and his teammates disappeared in pillars of yellow light. Immediately, Erza and Daemyn did the same. After looking at each of my friends, I made contact with the badge.

We beamed down into the guild, as that was where our badges took us now that we were here. Unfortunately for me, we were absolutely **surrounded** by other pokemon, making me want to run and hide like I usually did. In fact, it was amazing that I had maintained an aura of calm when surrounded by the others we were training with.

I suppose we had already become friends with the others, though I was still reluctant to talk to many of them. At least I had begun to feel comfortable around Erza. That was insane, in retrospect, because of the fact that she freaking smacked things around with a flail and stabbed them with a sword.

I suppose that besides Absol wanting me to be involved in this group because there were humans in it, he also saw that they could be friends. Crafty bugger. I was **so** going to use hypnosis on him if he tried to stay awake tonight.

 _That was an evil thought for me. Where do I get off hypnotizing people? At least i'm not controlling them. Actually controlling pokemon takes more psychic energy than that. Absol would be immune anyways._

No, I would not go around mind-controlling pokemon. It just sounded mean. Instead, I shifted from side to side while we waited for the diverse crowd to clear out. After a glance at me, Charizard took the initiative and asked some pokemon where the waterfall room was. We received some crazy answer about taking five lefts after the first right turn.

"That sounded mental" Charizard grumbled as he began his journey down the ladder. he barely fit, having to pull his wings in tight.

After we all travelled down the ladder, we saw that the next floor was thankfully nowhere near as full as the one that we had just left. Charizard, following directions, travelled towards the entranceway on our left, with the rest of us following in pursuit.

Turns out that one really could take five lefts in rapid succession and end up somewhere else. I had seen magic stuff before, but not **this** kind. It was freaky to say the least.

That said, the waterfall room looked pretty cool. There were cylindrical waterfalls coming straight of the ceiling, and there was some steam in the room. Most of the steam came from the right three falls, and the others may be at least a lower temperature.

Something lukewarm would probably do me fine.

After watching Absol step into the cold falls on the leftmost side, I stepped into the pool for the waterfall in the middle. The pool was clearly also enchanted, because the water was not flooding the entire guild.

I took a deep breath and stepped into the water. Thankfully, the room was pretty much empty until somebody else came in. Nobody here yet. Being in the middle of the waterfall and being completely encased in white water (These things were really big), I allowed myself to transform and be able to breathe.

Changing my form used to feel weird. In fact, the first time I took a different form, it hurt a lot and it took a long time. Each time I got a new form to use, I had to endure pain as my body slowly changed into it's new form, ignoring the concept of evolution and simply distorting into my new form. After that first time, it was easy and quick. recently I had been working on making these transformations faster and more efficient.

Getting clean was easy enough when I did not have to breathe the air. Breathing water in this form felt just the same. As I finished getting the dirt out of my ears, and just about everywhere else, I began to swim up and down the falls. It had been a while since I had a use for this form. We did not often go to the ocean.

Besides, swimming up and down a waterfall is not the easiest job. here I was, training in the 'shower'. I wonder who had done that before. My fur being much thinner, the dirt had mostly fallen off when I changed. But,o being pretty much caked with dirt from today's training, I still had some dirt within my blue fur.

Ears twitching, I recognize the sound of somebody walking into the room. My new ears were not as incredibly good at hearing, my only transformation to be like that. Even so, I caught the word 'Caleb', and another name that was most likely Sarah.

I assumed that Caleb was going to get a good cleaning. Sarah though, she had very little dirt in her fur beforehand. She was probably just sticking around Caleb. I wondered if that absol had any self control whatsoever.

 _Well, she did make some sort of deal with Caleb during the first day of training, though that was more of letting Caleb do his thing during training. Maybe because he had looked so frustrated. I don't really know._

But I cared. I wanted to try and help, even though I also quailed at the very thought of talking to someone other than Absol, Charizard, Magnezone… and now Erza. Half the time of course. The other half, Erza was the scariest of them all, and she knew it perfectly well.

But she trusted me enough to tell me Caleb's secret. And Jake trusted me enough with his. Why? Why did they trust me so much, seeing what humans must be treated like normally? People don't like change, don't like different people. What made Jake so easily talk about his origin? What made Erza so willing to tell me about Caleb?

It was odd, to say the least, that they were so open about it. Surely the other pokemon would look at Caleb and Jake with contempt. I would have to pay attention to how they were treated.

I made sure I remembered to change back. Others seeing a different pokemon coming out of the waterfall than what went in would be a serious brow raiser.

Shaking myself off was almost useless. My fur, being the ridiculously absorptive stuff that it was, would hold that water for a long time. Even so, I managed to get about half of it out. Sarah was nowhere to be seen, but Caleb was submerged in the rightmost waterfall, the one steaming hot. How a pokemon with some of the thickest fur around could possibly stand such heat.

He was submerging himself completely as much as possible, poking his head out to breathe on occasion. What I was stunned to see was a **smile** on his face. He was downright happy. The blissful look on the absol's face was totally unlike the human I had understood.

Maybe it was an escape to be in such hot water. Maybe I should try using that waterfall one day.

As I slowly dried off, resting, I checked on the others. Magnezone had opted for not dealing with the water at all, fearing he would shock everything in the room. Instead, he cleaned himself by doing… Something. I did not see it. Charizard had apparently used the hot water, though he complained about the water itself, he liked the heat. He had gotten out before Caleb had come in.

And Absol had gotten clean as well, though that was all he would tell me.

Caleb eventually (very reluctantly) got out of the water and tried to shake himself off. He failed miserably. if he had been human before, it made sense that he would be terrible at shaking water out of his super absorptive fur.

Charizard grunted at human-turned-absol as he emerged from the waterfall. "You sure you aren't a fire type?" he asked "Because that water is suited for fire types, and you don't look uncomfortable in any way."

"I always preferred a hot shower" Caleb replied, giving each of us a nod before moving along. I was looking about. "W-where's Sarah?" I asked.

"I told her to wait for me outside Spinda's Cafe. This time around, I was hoping, **hoping** that she would take it the wrong way this time. It would be beyond awkward if she tried to share a shower with me."

 _I can understand tha-... Wait, no I can't. What's up with my head lately?!_

I just nodded meekly. Absol's nod was more authoritative than mine. Caleb began to walk out, and Absol gave me an encouraging nod. I followed my fellow human out of the room and through the impossible circle of corridors.

After struggling through the crowds, which Caleb seemed to like almost as little as I did, and climbing up both ladders, which Caleb seemed to almost have a problem with just as I had, we walked out of the guild.

Both Caleb and I sighed. I caught Caleb's piercing gaze once more. I shrunk back, and immediately saw Caleb's eyes change to that of sorrow before he looked away quickly. He learned something from our similar reaction, but he hated that he had made me afraid. I wanted to try and make things better, but I had no clue how.

How could I make someone feel better if I was too scared to even talk to them?

Spinda's cafe was not the furthest away, though the long staircase made my paws hurt. Seriously, these stairs had absolutely zero value to any pokemon crossing it. No pokemon has the appropriate size feet or paws or whatever to make this staircase work for them.

But enough of my ranting, because here was the group waiting for us outside Spinda's cafe. Sarah charged towards Caleb, who had an extremely monotonous expression on his face. When Sarah got close, Caleb stopped her with his paw on her face. The guy's strength was impressive, i'll give him that.

"At this point, it would be best if we saved conversation until we are **inside**." Caleb said sternly. After involuntarily shivering, I followed everyone into the building.

"Hi, everybody!" Spinda greeted us with a big smile. Caleb gave her a smile of sorts that consisted of a twitch in his face. The others gave her big smiles, however. Spinda was nice to everybody, and it seemed she was completely unaffected by Caleb's lack of cheer.

We all gave the pokemon our items to be made into a drink. This time around, I had my brown gummi, a white gummi, and an aspear berry. The combination was definitely one of my favorites.

Unfortunately for us, Spinda began to twirl and dance as she prepared out different drinks. This locked our vision on her and we could not move away at all. This obviously scared me because I had never experienced it before. Caleb decided to come to the rescue. "Spinda…" he said, like he was used to saying it.

"Oh dear!" Spinda said, no longer dancing and realizing what was happening. Apparently it happened a lot, though yesterday was an exception. We all thanked Spinda and walked to a large empty table that Spinda had never put away.

"Spinda's extended the place" Erza noticed, drawing our attention. Sure enough, one of the walls was gone and the place seemed to be almost twice as big. Now there was room for anybody who knew that it existed, and not everybody was there at the same time. Now it seemed manageable.

"Brilliant for Spinda" Daemyn commented, apparently reaching the same conclusion I had. Speaking of the dancing pokemon with the freaky literally eye catching dance, she came along with about fifteen trays balanced on her paws somehow. She was teetering and twirling, but the drinks never lost a drop. Ever.

Within two minutes, we had our drinks. It turned into something of a discussion, though there was plenty of childish banter as well. Caleb and Absol brought along most of the official sounding and adult talk, and the others, well, they chatted like mid-age friends. As for me, I said barely a word. That, Caleb noticed.

"Amber, is there a problem?" Caleb asked. I was stunned by the softness in his voice. He held worry in his eyes, though his expression was the same. Sarah seemed to smile a little at that look, and I guessed that meant this was a normal look for him rather than that pain.

"W-well, I just… Don't have anything to say" I replied finally, looking away. Charizard growled a bit at Caleb until Absol prodded him and whispered something in the giant pokemon's ear. I picked it up: "He is just trying to help, Charizard"

"Not doing a very good job…" Charizard hissed back. It was impressive that he could whisper like that, because every other charizard I had ever met was as loud as possible. In fact, I was surprised that Swampert was similar.

"I know you know a few more jokes than the one you told us on the way to that field, Caleb" Erza egged Caleb on. Caleb's frown persisted. "I would prefer not to. Many of the jokes that come to mind are those that make little sense if you do not understand the context. I would be here all night and the next explaining each and every detail that makes some of the jokes work. Besides…" he trailed off.

That stopped that particular conversation, though it was clear that Daemyn and Erza were racking their brains trying to think of something, **anything** that could make Caleb laugh. Something. And they were having trouble.

Jake was talking to Caleb a bunch. He would openly ask questions about life as a human, and Caleb was asking freely. While drinking my delicious drink, I kept my ears pointed towards the conversation. It surprised me that they were talking so openly about it, considering the many eyes looking at the group.

Still listening to Caleb answer questions with all sorts of words I had never heard before, I stole a glance around. The many pokemon watching, they were not frowning or casting judging eyes on the humans.

They were **smiling**!

What the heck was going on here?

"Wait, How fast do those 'cars' go? Jake was asking Caleb, drawing my direct attention. Caleb thought about it. "The speeds vary depending on how you are driving them. Generally roads have speed limits, so that drivers are not at greater risk of crashing their vehicle. Most large roads and country roads have speed limits around fifty-five miles per hour. As for the maximum speed they can achieve, the fastest cars that are designed for racing can easily go over one hundred miles per hour." Caleb explained to the awed raichu.

I was awed a bit as well. One hundred miles per hour was **fast**. Caleb was explaining that humans themselves were very fragile, slow, and easy to hurt. I wondered how easy. Surely not so fragile as to-

"Jake, I mean they can **die**. Easily. Compared to pokemon, they can bleed and die so easily it is pathetic. An attack like my night slash would cut a human in half. In fact, i've explained this before" Caleb responded to Jake's impulsive question.

The way he said that so matter of factly made me shudder. Cut in half? By a night slash? I know those attacks are powerful, but that's **insanely** weak. It was probably a good thing Caleb had lowered his voice.

Jake hung his head after a moment. "Sorry…" He muttered, maybe expecting Caleb to become angry. What happened instead made the absol seem just a little less scary.

"Jake…" Caleb said softly, dragging the raichu's eyes upward "There is nothing to be sorry for. There is little reason to keep my old life a secret other than the most obvious piece that some of the facts about my world are not, as one could say, for children's ears. You know I am happy to answer any questions about that world. It's not like… Not like either of us would be able to see it now that the portal was closed."

 _The portal is closed? There was a way home? Why did everyone have a flash of guilt when he mentioned the portal closing?_

"O-... Okay" Jake said, unsure of himself. Caleb seemed to rarely act warm, and by the look in the other's eyes, that was a newer development, but now that Caleb had said something nice and kind, the others looked surprised… No…

They looked relieved. They looked like they thought Caleb was finally coming around. I could not be sure, because I had not known Caleb for long, but even I felt a little optimistic.

"Hey" Daemyn said, nudging Caleb "Tell us one of your jokes or something. You managed to light up the mood easily last time". His reasoning would make sense to anybody, but the purpose was for Caleb to think of something funny. Maybe drive up his mood.

"I told you; most of the jokes aren't something pokemon would understand without prior knowledge of things." Caleb replied calmly. Daemyn shook his head at this. "Then tell us a joke we **will** get, ya doofus" he challenged.

Caleb looked down. "No." He said. There was power in his voice, but neither the power nor the confidence shone in his eyes. Instead, there was pain. Just pain. Something occurred to me as I watched him. The way he seemed to do this whenever he was reminded of his old home…

I had an idea. I had to talk, to try and help. I just had to. If I did not get up the courage to help him, it was possible nobody else could figure out what was wrong with them, especially if he would not talk about it.

I took a deep, long breath as I tried to gather the courage.

 _One…_

 _Two..._

 _Three…_

"Does it hurt to remember?" I asked, managing not to stammer. I had done it. I had managed to voice a question to a group, many of which were strangers, and did not stammer or act fearful. Caleb's eyes bored into mine, but this time I did not look away. I was scared he would grow angry, but I did not want to lose this particular battle.

Caleb's eyes… The pain in them was astonishing. It kept my eyes focused on his as he silently stared at me. His eyes were no longer sharp and calculating; they were distant and unfocused.

The others drew audible breaths as they recognized the dead look in his eyes. Then, they all seemed to look down a bit. Every one of them looked like they felt incredibly guilty about something. Even Sarah. **Especially** Sarah.

"..." Caleb was silent as a stone. The entire table was silent. Even the pokemon at adjacent tables were quiet, having heard the question and noticing that Caleb was not talking at all. It seemed he had an excellent reputation here. To see him not responding to a question must not be common.

"C-Caleb?" I asked, now unsure of myself. I had clearly caused him so much pain with that question. I feared the impact I had caused him.

"...I had a chance to go home" Caleb began slowly. I remembered the portal that was mentioned. He could have gone home? Why did he not? "I had a family, friends, things I wanted and needed in my old world. My entire life was there. I was standing in front of that rip in the skin of the world, having previously known I would go through it whatever the cost. My family probably thought I was dead, and they-" Caleb continued, but to everyone's shock in the entire room, he choked up.

Caleb looked down, not meeting anyone's eyes. Even though he must be feeling turmoil inside, he continued to speak. "My family will never see me again. I had a chance to go home, and even knowing it was my last chance for my family to see me again, I couldn't do it. I couldn't go, and now my family will never see me again. They would think I had died."

"Caleb…" Sarah said slowly, Erza echoing her. Caleb's face then contorted into a scowl. One filled with pain rather than anger. He slammed his paw into the dirt. "I had **one** job. One. **Fucking**. Job. I had only one thing that I truly needed to do, and that was get back to my family so that they could know that I was alive and well. I had **one** chance to help them, even if my own life changed for the worse, and you know what I did?" He snarled. He looked up, and there now was anger in his eyes. A powerful rage that was directed at none other than himself.

"I **betrayed** them" he snarled furiously "i had a chance to help them, and you know what I did? I stayed here instead. I liked this world too much, and I made my choice based on a selfish desire that has no place in my decision. I **betrayed** them. My family can never see me again. **Ever** , because I am a traitor!"

This outburst was clearly not like Caleb. One thing that always stood out to me when he spoke was how he detailed the pain his family would be going through. It was like he did not care about himself at all. All he cared about was his family, and knowing them, he still stayed. He believed he was being selfish.

I had decided that I wanted to stay because I feared the pain Charizard, then a charmander, would feel at my departure. It was possible he felt something similar for his friends, but in no way has he forgiven himself.

I wondered what to make of this. The most obvious choice was to forgive him, but it was like he did not actually want that. In fact, it was like he was looking to be punished. It was clear for everyone to see: Caleb hated himself.

But the rest of us? No. We all felt sorry for him yes, but we all forgave him for his actions. Of course he liked this place better. Caleb had not told me much about the human world, but Erza had said some things. Caleb had told her enough for Erza to know that the human world was nowhere near as forgiving as this one was, and many terrible things were frequent. Why would Caleb want to go back?

The answer was simple. He didn't. He wanted to stay, and he did, but he believed he had a duty to be with his family again, not because he needed them, but because they needed him.

And Erza had said that Caleb was the best person she knew. I did not doubt it for a second.

"Caleb… you can't keep beating yourself up over that" Sarah tried to reason with him. His scowl deepened. "I don't think you understand, **Sarah**. I don't think **any** of you get it. My family will believe I am **dead**. If that doesn't utterly destroy them before they die of old age, then they will die without even seeing me again. **Ever**. That's why you don't understand. Each and every one of you will never have to live with that knowledge. Even you, Jake, have lost your memory. None of you will **ever** have to experience the pain I will continue to experience, and **none** of you will ever understand that pain. You know what, Jake? I **envy** you. I wish **I** had lost my memory as well, because this pain is something that will never, ever fade. **that's** what you don't understand when you try to cheer me up. **That's** why you can never bring up my mood. It is because to my family, I **am** dead. And to me, my entire family might as well be dead. My friends as well!" Caleb shouted.

Silence.

Everyone's eyes were as round as the dinner plates in the guild. Each and every one of us, including me. Ten seconds later, Caleb got out of his sitting position. "I am going to get some fresh air. don't follow me." Caleb snarled quietly as he turned away from his unfinished drink. On a second thought, he turned to Sarah. "And yes, I really, truly mean that".

And then he was gone.

The door was left open in the ceiling. Every single one of us was not moving in the slightest. Then, Daemyn looked down, as did Erza. Sarah was openly crying, and the others all looked extremely guilty and sad, and a few looked angry at themselves. My own team looked sad, but they, like me, had no clue what was actually happening.

"...Oh…" Erza murmured, barely audible even for me. Jake looked absolutely destroyed, perhaps at the comment that Caleb was envious of his memory loss. The fact that he was envious of something like that… Caleb was in bad shape.

Daemyn was muttering curses under his breath while Swampert tried to comfort Jake. Everyone just looked like they were in pain. I was occupied watching the door, as if waiting for the human to come back.

He didn't.

Most of us had finished our drinks, but the rest went without finishing them. Spinda seemed to understand perfectly. Everyone else in the room eventually got back to their meals and drinks, but we just sat there like idiots.

Erza eventually slammed the table with her arm. "We're the worst friends on the fucking planet" She muttered. It was not often she cursed, but this was definitely a good time to if anything. Daemyn looked like he wanted to be punished or something, muttering under his breath at all times.

The others had similar reactions. Jake looked to be near tears. Swampert, like Charizard, was stoic. Shedinja was looking from person to person silently. However, somehow, it was clear that he was not happy. Sarah had tears in her eyes still after realizing just how much pain the group had unwittingly caused Caleb.

There was less emotion in the eyes of Erza's and Daemyn's teammates, but that may have been because they knew Caleb less. Erza herself was beating herself up over that. The manner of which looked like it was about to be physical.

 **Clunk**.

Daemyn's head hit the table in a manner that suggested defeat. Sarah spoke up.

"Do you think… We should go after him?" She suggested, and the others all turned to her at once. "You didn't hear him? He said not to" Daemyn replied harshly.

"Of course I heard him, but if he can't talk about it…" Sarah tried to reason. The others looked away from her. Sarah was probably right, but the others were not willing to disobey Caleb. They probably felt that Caleb deserved to make his own decisions.

But he needed to talk to somebody. The others were getting up to leave, Erza saying something about Sarah getting back to the guild, to the point of talking about an 'escort'. It seemed that Sarah was not exactly trusted in this circle of friends. In fact, they did not seem to be much of friends with Sarah at all.

But I had to do something. After hearing that, I was certain I could trust Caleb. It would be hard, but I had to talk to him. Maybe I could avoid being too afraid. As the others left to go to each place, I instead walked out of the place and immediately tried to detect Caleb's scent.

Absol noticed me doing this. His questioning gaze bored into me. "Uh… Could you guys wait here?" I asked, catching the smell that I recognized as Caleb's. The others looked beyond confused, but I was walking over towards where Caleb's scent led.

Right into the forest the trail led me. I passed many clearings used for training by other pokemon, a few still having large opponents battling in the center of them. Still Caleb's scent continued. A cliff was approaching.

Where was Caleb? The scent was being blown away in the wind. I would need to be a mightyena to properly know where he was. I searched to each side of the cliff, and then I saw him.

Caleb sat silently at the edge of a protrusion in the cliff. It was like a scene from a movie or something, with the breeze blowing his fur and… Whatever a movie was. I lost my track of thought at that point.

As I neared Caleb, I realized I was moving very quietly. Sneaking up on Caleb would not be nice, so I had to say something. Call or something. But I was reluctant, and I was still moving.

Just as I wa opening my mouth finally, Caleb spoke up. "I thought I told you all not to follow me" he said. There was no growl in his voice. Instead, he sounded broken. Defeated. I felt really bad for him. he wanted time to think, but giving him that would only cause him more pain.

"It's me" I said simply. That's something I can say without stammering, or maybe i'm more comfortable around who, despite appearances and professionalism, was in fact capable of being a softie.

"...Yes, Amber. I knew it was you." Caleb replied slowly, reminding me of his abilities of an absol "However, it was not you I was expecting. You of all people… I did not expect you to try and follow me. I expected Sarah, or perhaps Daemyn, maybe even Erza. But you…"

"Uh…" I started, unsure of how to continue. I wanted to help him, but I had no plan at all. Caleb turned around and turned his blank eyes on me. Those eyes scared me more than his piercing gaze. He looked dead.

"L-... Listen" I stammered "you've been beating yourself up over having had a chance to go home, and specifically not going back to your family…. It sounds like everyone has been giving you nothing but optimistic words to me, and I get that you don't want to hear it. You want to hear the truth. Maybe then, you can at least try to lighten up?"

Caleb was silent, appraising me. He made a strangely familiar gesture with his paw for me to continue. "Uh… Here we go. You **did** have a chance to go home, and for your family to see you alive again. You **didn't** go because you liked this place too much, and you feel like it was a betrayal to your family. To be honest, yeah. That would be when you had the chance" I continued. Caleb's eyes wavered a bit, and I swear I saw the beginning of a tear.

"But…" I said, drawing his attention "even if you can never forgive yourself. Even if you intend to live your life remembering what happened, you need to put it at the back of your mind. You're not… The only person you're hurting while focusing on this."

Caleb's eyes widened considerably, and he tensed. I worried that I had gone too far, but I was not seeing any anger. Instead, something different appeared in his silent eyes.

Guilt.

Caleb had once struck me as someone who was independant, who needed nobody to function. He had always appeared so powerful and intelligent. Instead, he looked now like he needed a hug.

"I-..." Caleb murmured to himself. He did not finish that sentence. The pain in his eyes increased. Eventually, he turned away and stared out at the scene in front of him over the cliff.

"...So my family is not the only one I have betrayed…" he said quietly. I started, both at the dullness of his voice and the implications of what he was saying. "C-Caleb…" I said, prompting the absol to turn his dead looking eyes towards me.

"You're beating yourself up again… Do you want to know what I think?" I asked. Caleb was unresponsive for a moment before nodding slowly. I was glad he was open to suggestions.

"You've been told a lot of the time that you need to let it go, or that you should forgive yourself. You obviously don't want to do that, because you believe that it is unforgivable. My point is: You don't need to forget what happened. You just need to understand it as something in the background. It happened, and that won't change. Instead, you can live in the present and future" I explained, and then realized I had not stammered one bit. It was impressive that I could do that.

Caleb regarded me, his eyes losing a little bit of that dead look. "You…" He began slowly, apparently trying to think of something to say. "That is very wise, Amber. You are right of course, but I warn you that it will take time for me to properly put this betrayal in the back of my mind. I admit, I did not think rationally when I realized the damage I had done to my friends. If I can be considered a friend to anyone."

"Every one of us is willing to help you with that" I promised, and I knew it would be true. I wanted to ask Caleb some things about the human world, but even now I had no idea how to break it to him that I had been human. I turned to walk away.

"Amber…" Caleb murmured, just loud enough for me to hear him. I turned back quickly, wondering what he wanted to tell me. "I don't understand you. Not at all, Amber. You act differently around different people, and you show wisdom, intelligence and power in you even when you shiver in fear. Some things I learned about you over time contradicted even that sense of fear I detected every time I met your eyes." Caleb pondered.

"...What kind of contradictions?" I asked slowly, wondering what he was getting at. What suggested that I was not the way I seemed to be? Caleb met my eyes again. "The most odd thing is your team name. I would not have expected someone with your mindset to name your team after yourself" he explained.

 _Oh. Oooohhh, that. I told Charizard that this would bite us later._

"The name was Charizard's idea" I told Caleb quickly. The absol blinked, and then he nodded. "That certainly clears some things up for me" he admitted. Then, he studied me. "But I do not yet understand you, Amber. You feel fear in the face of others, and it confuses me. This is not the human world; everything I have seen here might as well have a backdrop of flowers and rainbows. Along with some fire and explosions of course, but that seems to be the norm here. What makes you fear others?" Caleb asked.

Now I was stuck. What, would I have to explain that people don't like those who are different where I came from? Did I have to talk about this at all?

 _He deserves to know._

"Well, you know how people are not quite, well, happy when things are different, right? I assume that happens in the human world" I asked. Caleb nodded. "Well, i'm pretty different by normal standards. The region i'm from, pokemon tend to dislike that kind of thing. Not those like the kecleon brothers or the resident kangaskhan, but you understand what I mean. It's difficult to trust people you have just met when you're used to being disliked by others for being different" I explained.

Then I noticed Caleb had stiffened up. There was a dangerous glint to his eyes that threw me off. "Prejudice?" Caleb asked dangerously "you are subjected to that where you are from? What, because you are unusually powerful or something?"

I recoiled slightly at the danger I now saw in Caleb's eyes. He was furious on the inside. It seemed that reaction was against those who were prejudists, and that meant…

I could trust him with any secret I had, and he would not judge me. he was a human after all, like I had been. If I had something to hide, I would never need to keep it from Caleb. It was like a giant weight had been lifted off of my back.

"Well, it's not exactly because I was powerful…" I began, bracing myself for what was to come. "It's because…"

 _gah… I can't make myself say it!_

Caleb was waiting for me to continue. Even though I definitely trusted him now, it was hard to get out. "It's hard for me to say…" I murmured, looking down. When I looked up, Caleb's eyes had changed completely. They held a soft kindness now. "You can tell me, Amber. We all have secrets, but some secrets can only stress you out. If this is hanging over you, talking to somebody can help you. I assure you, that I can be trusted" He assured me.

And assure me he did. I already knew that I could trust him, but this was now easier to say. "I… I woke up in a small forest a year and a half ago. A charmander woke me up. He was the charizard you know today. I, well, I lost my memory." I started, and Caleb's eyes flickered.

"I could only remember two things: My name… And that I was… Human before" I got out. Caleb's eyes visibly widened, but he said nothing. "After I saved a caterpie, we eventually got to the nearby town. Then, Charizard told me that he wanted to make an exploration team, and that it was his life's dream. You wouldn't have recognized the guy then. But that's how we got the the point of being a rescue team. I guess the fear started when the others there learned I was human. Then, they hated me." I said.

Caleb's sudden fury reignited at that. I guess he had a particular grudge against people who base anger and hatred on what you are. "And… You found it difficult to trust others when most of the others around you hated you for what you were" Caleb supplied, eliciting a nod from me.

"Which is why you kept it secret" Caleb suggested. He was not done talking, but the anger faded and his eyes closed a bit as if he was tired. "This place, this region, I have never met a pokemon who were willing to judge me based on my origin. That is why we were so willing to talk about our origins. In fact, it made Jake and I a little like celebrities." He said.

This snapped me to attention. Did that really happen here? Famous for being different? "R-really?" I asked, hardly willing to believe it.

"yes-" Caleb started, and then froze. A trapped look appeared in his eyes. You're human, and that means-!" he exclaimed to himself, and now he looked **furious**. I stepped back.

"There was a chance to go back… Back to the human world, and I didn't know you were around and human… If I had, I could have given you the option to go home! Instead I blew it and there's no chance to go home for the rest of our lives!" Caleb growled.

 _He's going to beat himself up all over again! I have to stop that!_

"No! Nonononono!" I exclaimed "don't worry about it!"

"How can I not? I blew your chance as well as my own, Amber…" Caleb replied, already beating himself up again.

"No! I had a chance to go home after I saved the region from a meteor! I decided to stay because I lost my memory and had no place to go there, and because Charmander needed me!" I exclaimed, desperate to stop him from freaking out on me.

Caleb stopped cold, and his eyes turned to me. He seemed to silently calculate what I had said. "...What I wouldn't give to have lost my memory…" he murmured finally. That also troubled me, that he would want to forget.

"Don't say that…" I muttered quietly, making sure Caleb could hear me. The boy looked at me with confused eyes, rant interrupted. "Memory makes us who we are, Caleb. i'm who I am because Charizard was there to help me in the beginning. Otherwise, I would be a lot different. So would you without your memory." I told Caleb.

Caleb looked towards the setting sun in the distance and appeared to think about it. Then, much to my shock, he **chuckled**. Caleb was laughing. I had made him laugh. "You know, I've been told that I was extremely influential, to use my own terms. many of the people I have met change quickly. But… You are just as much if not more than I. I never did recover from what I have done and how wrong it was, but with your help and the help of the others, perhaps I can change that."

Now I smiled. I was feeling sad for Caleb, and it was good to see him smile and chuckle. Today I knew Caleb was on the road to recovery, and that made me smile. "It's close to dinnertime" I noted, looking at the sun. Caleb nodded. His face seemed to shut down again, back to his professional monotone face.

"Yes. I agree" Caleb replied. Then, he looked me in the eye. "Thank you, Amber."

I did not say 'you're welcome', but i'm sure Caleb got it. Now the bloke just had to hold up to that promise he made me. I had a feeling he would at least try, but Caleb was absolutely right: These things take time. Hopefully not too long, however.

Caleb walked away from the cliff edge, and into the forest in the direction of the guild. For just a moment I thought I was going to let him go, and then I realized I would be walking around in a darkening forest… Alone.

"W-wait up!" I called, running after the human turned absol.

* * *

 **Okay... Deep breaths. That chapter was long and did wonders for the plot. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and feel free to make speculations. Reviews are always welcome and encouraged, and if you were to follow the story, you would receive automatic emails about updates for the story.**

 **And OC's are still welcome of course. I have been quite happy with the amount of characters I have gotten in the past for this story. Thank you all so much. Good day, everyone.**

* * *

 **Name:**

 **Age:**

 **Gender:**

 **Species:**

 **Personality:**

 **Background (this may be lengthy):**

 **Unique Aspect (optional):**

 **Other:**


	6. Chapter Six

**Hello, everybody! It's time for chapter six!**

 **Amber: I lost Jango after falling into one of those traps. Just like you did five minutes earlier.**

 **Me: Yeah... He's going to have to learn not to do that. Maybe that was what Jango cut out from ZLAXE's message... If he said anything. Anyways, he's probably setting something incredibly intricate up right now. Amber, can I trust you to find it?**

 **Amber: If you're the target, yes.**

 **Me: Thanks. Now, there wouldn't be any reviews, considering it's been one day, and there arent. So with reviews out of the way, Chapter start!**

 **Amber: Jango will be sorry he missed this one.**

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Happy B-day? Unheard of**

 **⽯Caleb's POV⽯**

"UP AND AT 'EM! IT'S MORNIN'!"

 _Gah…_

My eardrums ringing, I managed to push myself up. Boy was I tired. Maybe training against Sheila with my mind all night hadn't been a brilliant idea. Sheila was tough, and it was exhausting trying to battle her mentally. I swear the tank is smarter than I am. I would have sparred with Amaterasu, but it was unfair no matter who she faces. For everyone else, she was essentially indestructible. Me not being affected by the time lock, it was unfair for her.

Nevertheless, I had worked my mind a lot there. Between training in my mind and entertaining the dream kids, I was thoroughly exhausted, and Loudred was not helping.

Riley had commented on how I was easier to talk to tonight. That shouldn't have surprised me, but it did. Amber was quite the influential person, and her logic made mine look like fragile paper.

But as for who she was… A human? I had almost freaked out there, thinking that I could have given her a chance to go home, when she already had a chance. I had gotten the sense that Amber did not want that particular secret getting out just yet.

She had wanted to walk back with me to get to the crossroads where her team was waiting. Poor girl seemed scared of many things, including the dark. He told the others to take good care of her and departed for the guild.

 _I had better start calling it home…_

I had thought those very words before, but it was hard. It was sort of like I imagined college would be. Living in a single building in separate rooms, but with many others, and learning how to do my job on top of that.

 _Yes, actually. The guild is similar to college. At least, what I believe a college would be like._

"Hey!" Sarah greeted me as I blinked myself awake. She was smiling at me as usual, in my face as usual.

"Good morning," I replied cautiously. I didn't need her to be so close. She could probably sneak a kiss in before I slammed her away.

 _Like college, but for fighting, and in the bodies of overpowered magic creatures. Fun._

I still have problems considering this lifestyle 'fun'. It was what these pokémon lived for, but generally, I used to try to avoid violence. Instead, I got myself as deep into this as I possibly could have instead of going and living on my own, with nobody to bother me.

I used to want that. Now, I was not so sure. Being with friends did make me feel… Not happy as of late, but less discontented with the situation. I remembered what Erza had said to me when I did a pathetic job of apologizing for my actions.

 _"You are, without a doubt, the most thickheaded **genius** I have ever met!"_ Erza had exclaimed fondly, before heading home. There had been more, of course, but that stuck out to me, mostly because of the contradiction. Partly because I wondered if she was the only one to think of me that way.

As I thought about Amber, anger surged through me as I remembered the fact that many pokémon back at her home did not like her just because she was different from the others. How pathetic. I would be glad to put a few of them on the ground unconscious.

Maybe I'd get a chance.

"Is there a reason you're so close to me?" I asked the female absol. I felt weird this morning, but it was more than just being tired.

"Just wanted to say… Happy birthday!" Sarah suddenly exclaimed and giving me a giant smile that I was sure would damage her face if it went any wider.

 _...What?_

"Uh, sorry, come again?" I asked, completely baffled. It wasn't my birthday today, not unless I just slept for several months. Sarah's smile faltered for the barest moment, but it was back quick enough.

"Don't be silly. It's your birthday today, I can tell. Happy eighteenth birthday!" Sarah exclaimed again.

Befuddled as I was, I caught one key fact: Sarah thought I was now eighteen years old. "Sarah, my birthday is the seventeenth of November," I said, unwilling to be dragged into this so early in the morning, "It's July. That's not November, and if I remember correctly, it's the fourth today. Neither has it been a full years' worth of my life since my seventeenth birthday."

My sharp analysis did nothing to wipe that smile this time. "Well, you've certainly come of age. The changes are obvious, and you smell different," she cheerfully said.

I leaned away from her. "You were **smelling** me?"

"Why? Is that weird?"

"Y-yes!" I stammered, feeling **beyond** uncomfortable.

Sarah did her equivalent of a human shrug. "It's not weird here. It's part of how we tell males from females and whether the pokémon has come of age yet. Most species of pokémon have different ages that they come of age, but an absol comes of age at eighteen. Years for us are very exact. We come of age at eighteen, and, well, die at one hundred," Sarah explained.

 _When did she become a scholar? Wait a minute…_

"That's still a creepy thing to do when somebody's **sleeping**!" I protested, "And what does it even mean to come of age here!? Sarah, you are about to explain to me every single thing about that. **Right now**."

Loudred chose the wrong time to burst in, and I got away from Sarah as fast as possible. "YOU'RE LATE!" he screamed at us. Shedinja immediately went up to him and through the open door, obviously not willing to either be punished or be a part of this conversation.

"I'll try to explain later," Sarah replied as she waited for me to begin. At least she was not acting as insanely in love with me today, but I felt that it would return eventually. Sarah had just wished me a happy birthday four months early, and the way she went about it was freaky for me to think about. She would have had to get close…

 _Mind wandering. Focus, please._

But the differences were apparently there. I looked over myself. At my paws, legs, armor, and what little I could see of my chest underneath that armor. I sniffed slightly and smells hit my nose that were slightly clearer than before.

I had a completely new sense to learn how to use, and with my sense of hearing being weird and variable based on our focus, I reckoned that unless I was trying to, it would be slightly better than a human's would.

But my sense of smell **was** better, and I guess I smelled different than I did when I fell asleep. Apparently, I was eighteen? I found that unlikely, but I had already played with time a bit in the waterfall cave. Maybe…

 _Maybe the transition between my world and this one wasn't instantaneous? But why put me to sleep for four… no, three months? What the hell happened to me?_

Noticing the others were looking at me weirdly, I began to pad forward. Sarah followed me closely, but I was preoccupied. Eighteen years old at the age of seventeen and two-thirds. That's a sentence most people don't wind up saying.

 _She's telling the truth. She's never lied to me. Ever. I don't think even her drive to keep me near her would get her to lie to me._

So that meant she at least thought I had just turned eighteen, and apparently, I was changed at this 'coming of age'. I guess that was a physical change then? A rather quick one. Perhaps that was why I was so mentally tired. I swore I had not been so tired in the dream before I woke up. Maybe this change takes energy.

I wondered if pokémon celebrated birthdays. Maybe. I also wondered if they celebrated Fourth of July. My mind went on a loop for a while after that as I made a connection.

 _My new birthday is the Fourth of July. Fourth of July is my new birthday…_

As my mind processed that a few times, I realized I did, in fact, feel very different. Besides being tired, I felt just plain weird as if my body had changed slightly.

Instead of looking around, I searched my physical self with my absol sense. Nothing. No apparent changes. Why did I feel so weird then? Would I get used to this? Was I now technically an adult?

Sarah had said something about this coming of age to be very exact for absols. At eighteen years to be exact. She also mentioned a lifespan of one hundred years. I wondered if that too was exact. I shuddered at the thought of knowing the exact time you would be dying.

Nobody had been clamoring on about fireworks, so I was going to assume that the Fourth of July was not celebrated here. At least, not that much. Besides, there was no America here, and there was no declaration of Independence Day. No independence day.

 _Hmm…. Maybe I could tell them what Fourth of July is…_

Why not? Maybe not right now, there weren't any fireworks prepared. Maybe some other time. Suddenly, I felt the need to talk about my world. Maybe I could become a public speaker or something… if I didn't dislike being in front of large noisy crowds and having others wield great expectations like some would wield a sword.

The others watched quietly as we filled in, looking right at me. Chatot spoke up, no doubt to reprimand us for our lateness.

"You look plenty tired," Chatot admitted, shifting his wings, "But that is no excuse for tardiness. Neither is the fact that it's your birthday and a special one at that. I expect you and your team to be **on time**."

I blinked and looked at the bird. "You're the second person to tell me it's my birthday. That's ridiculous. My birthday is the seventeenth of November, not the fourth of July," I argued once more. Was Sarah planning a joke on me? The only reasons I did not fully believe that were that I did feel a little strange and that Sarah hasn't lied to me yet.

"Not here, apparently," Chatot shot back, getting impatient yet willing to calculate, "This is **not** your world, and it seems that time either runs differently or is simply on a different part of the year."

"The last time I experienced my birthday was eight months ago." I tried to reason, but Chatot was having none of it.

"Whether you like it or not, you've aged. Happy birthday, and can we please get back to our morning routine?" Chatot asked. Everyone was looking at me, and I felt slightly sick. Here I was, being stared at and apparently, eighteen years old, and apparently that comes with a few changes…

My blood ran cold.

Coming of age… What an interesting word choice. Generally, humans change over time, developing differences in their bodies. Changes. More hair (not a problem in my case), slightly changed attitude (Amber's the cause of that I think. At least, the present mood), and hormones-.

 _If Sarah's explanation includes this, it will be the worst birthday of my life. I cannot afford to fall in love with somebody. I'm a freaking human! Not a pokémon! I reckoned I would be incompatible with others, and I do not need my emotions being messed with!_

As I slowly drove myself insane, the others were doing their chant, me mouthing the words automatically to simulate speech while I still abhorred the idea of singing or chanting in front of observers.

Shedinja snapped me back to reality by fading into view right in my face. I blinked and stared, my thought process loop shattering for the moment though the curses at the inevitable still flew around my brain.

"...Thank you, Shedinja. I was scaring myself there," I thanked the ghost type. I tried to tune him out so that I would unconsciously understand what he was saying, tried to become deliberately unfocused.

" **Shedinja**."

"Apparently I'm eighteen, and apparently there are some changes I have to deal with."

" **Shedinja**."

"No, I do not know the full extent of the changes. And yes. I'm terrified, frankly."

"..."

I had been speaking quietly, but I was smiling now. I could communicate with Shedinja, but I would not be able to focus on him while I did. It was a mostly subconscious message, I realized, and poor Shedinja couldn't do anything about it.

It was sad, really. Shedinja was likely never going to be able to speak again. We had to take the initiative and figure out how to understand him, and he shouldn't have to go through that. Him being able to talk was always good. He had good things to say, and he was smart as well as being a decent person.

Yes, talking to Nincada had been good for us. Now he was Shedinja, and now he was not able to talk properly.

 _At least he can talk at all. Subconscious speech is better than no speech at all._

I was worried what would happen to Shedinja if he would find it so troublesome to talk. If Shedinja had problems, and he couldn't talk about it, what would happen?

" **Shedinja**."

"Yes, yes we should," I answered, still lost in thought before I realized what had just happened. Shedinja was trying to tell me that we should get on with the day. I looked him straight in the 'eyes', where there were small holes in his shell, and gave him my thanks.

I could only imagine Shedinja's thoughts at the time.

I traveled up to the crowded second floor, where many of the jobs still hung. It was not as crowded today. Not seeing any of my friends, I took Absol's advice to heart and went to the outlaw board.

"We should take more than one job today," I ventured, not waiting for my team members to acknowledge me. I looked over and up at the board, looking for multiple jobs in a single place.

There it was. Oran woods, the place was called. I pulled the two I saw down by raising a paw and hooking it with my claw. I looked at them. "Right. We have a team of two outlaws in the oran woods for one job, working together, and a 'mischief making braixen' later in the dungeon," I explained fluently.

The former job had little description of the two, other than that one was a tropius and the other a bellossom, and that they worked together to steal things from others. Right now, they were hiding.

"Let's get a move on. We've got work to do today," I said firmly, marking the jobs as taken.

* * *

I traveled towards Kangaskhan storage to restock for the mission. Kangaskhan greeted me immediately. "Hello, sweetie," she greeted warmly, "The usual for your training exercises?"

"No, ma'am," I replied formally, surprising Kangaskhan yet again. She never expected me to do it, even though I always did recently. "Today we are taking on a few missions in the oran woods. Thus, we need to stock for such an event."

"Of course, sweetie," Kangaskhan replied, surprise forgotten. She knew what we had from yesterday, and so knew what we would need for the mission. She was a very helpful person.

Another pokémon approached the counter. He was taller than I was, and mostly green or white. Though the point where his lower body met his legs was inexplicably larger than much of the rest of his body, he appeared as a warrior of sorts. His elbows stretched out in blades behind him. The pokémon had a band on his right arm with a green stone in it, though I did not bother to focus on it.

"Ah, hello," the pokémon asked in a deep, near human voice. He was greeting me.

"Hello," I replied simply, not willing to be dragged into conversation just yet. I memorized his form however, for identification purposes. That was assuming that I either saw him again or learned his name. He had spikes on his chest and back, and another spike like protrusion came up from his head.

"The name's Gallade," he greeted, trying to make conversation. Now I was going to respond.

"I go by Caleb," I responded, not willing to go into the whole name/nickname difference. It was always stressful to explain that. Gallade looked down at me with a raised brow, and I started to hope that Kangaskhan would be back soon. I did not need a conversation with anybody at the moment.

"Interesting nickname…" Gallade mused, waiting for Kangaskhan to come back. He looked down at me, and focused suddenly on my chest. I realized he must have been looking at my armor. Gallade suddenly laughed a long, hearty laugh.

"I see! I think we shall get along quite nicely, Caleb," he said, before walking away. Had he even wanted to get something from storage at all?

Kangaskhan came back. "Oh, making a new friend?" she asked, her motherly voice seeming happy enough.

"I am not certain," I responded, "Gallade appears to be quite an interesting personality. His push for conversation did not truly sit well with me," I admitted, watching the pokémon in question walk away casually.

"You don't see many gallade around here," Kangaskhan mused, "I've only seen two around lately; him and one that goes by the nickname Space. Both are pretty powerful."

 _Space? Quite the interesting nickname. Wonder why he chose it._

"A rare species of pokémon, hmm?"

"Well, the ralts family tree is uncommon enough, but very few of them actually fully evolve into gallade. Most become gardevoir instead," Kangaskhan explained, as if I should know anything about the ralts family tree. More of that freaky species swapping stuff that had my mind breaking down whenever I tried to analyze Shedinja. Maybe if somebody just freaking explained it to me.

 _That wasn't a bad idea..._

"Kangaskhan, could you perhaps ex-" I started, but we were interrupted as Kangaskhan was setting the stuff I would need down. A strange bipedal pokémon that had many features that resembled a canine ran up almost breathlessly. He looked like he was wearing a black mask over his eyes, although it was clearly fur. At the edges of these black patches, two protrusions hung down from its head. Its ears however, were clearly at the top of its head. The pokémon was blue and black save for his red eyes.

It stayed on its toes, and if he hadn't, he would be much shorter. In fact, he was hopping about impatiently, as if he **always** had to be moving. For some reason I could tell he was male, and that he was pretty much still a child. I wondered why I could tell these things, but I reckoned it had something to do with my apparently improved sense of smell. Maybe instinct had something to do with it as well.

"Hi, um…" he started, and Kangaskhan was focusing on the kid, "What do you need, sweetie?" she asked of the riolu, who seemed to gain even more nervous energy.

"I'm looking for somebody that lives around here. They call him… Ah, what was his name?" the pokémon said to himself, though we could easily hear him. He tapped his head in an attempt to remember.

"Oh! Jake! That was it! Needed to find Jake. I was told that he could help me?" the canine pokémon exclaimed. This little guy wanted to see Jake? I could certainly point him in the right direction, but I admit I was a little suspicious.

"You must mean Jake the raichu," I commented slowly, facing him.

I guess my piercing glance unnerved him, as he finally seemed to notice my presence. However, the little guy quickly smiled. "Oh, you know him! What species is he?"

 _He wasn't even properly listening!_

Forcing myself to be patient with the kid, I explained again. "Jake is a raichu. May I ask why you need to see him?" I asked.

"Yep! You may!" the little guy said cheerfully.

 _The cheeky little…_

"...What do you need him for?" I asked, trying to not be annoyed at the kid. He was just a kid after all. Not like I could be mad at him for something he doesn't know is impolite yet.

"Oh, I was just told he could help me. You know," the little guy said dismissively. At that point, I gave up on any straight answer I could get. I reminded myself that this world was particularly safe from pokémon with ill intent, and that there were many reasons to trust this little guy. Perhaps he was a fan, or perhaps he actually had something he wanted my fellow human to help him with.

"Do you know the way to sharpedo bluff?" I asked him, and the kid nodded enthusiastically. "Jake the raichu lives within the cliff face. The entrance is near the cliff's edge." I explained.

At that, the little guy smiled enthusiastically. Then, he bolted off at an impressive speed. I watched him go with an odd look in my eyes. That had been befuddling. "...Who was that?" I finally asked as I began to take some of the things Kangaskhan had set out and put them in my bag, careful not to break open the berries with my teeth.

"Who? I can't be sure, but he was such a sweet little guy," Kangaskhan chuckled warmly, "But as for species, that was a riolu. I expect he would go by that name."

So that's an odd gallade and an energetic riolu that wants to know Jake," I said to myself. I finished loading my pack, and said a quick thank you to Kangaskhan for her assistance. After politely listening to her reply, I went back to the crossroads. I had told Sarah and Shedinja to meet me there.

Sarah had decided to follow me however. The insufferable absol appeared next to me. I mean **right** next to me. This was getting old quick, but I did not want to get angry with the girl. The last time I acted in anger, I had tried to kill her in my rage. Before that, my anger had nearly killed everyone.

 _Never again._

That was part of the reason that I held back all of the retorts and anger I wanted to throw at her when she tries to get close. The other part… She's actually a decent person from what I can tell. She simply has a thing for me that is far too extravagant and compelling for her.

I would not pretend to understand her mind on the matter, whether she knew it was a problem for her or not. Females were difficult to understand, apparently of **any** species. I wondered whether Shedinja had actually obeyed my orders. My guess was that he had, being almost resigned to the fact that Sarah was going to be an incredibly insufferable being to me at any time.

By the time we were off to the Oran woods, Sarah had more than thrice done the same thing she always does: Something close and borderline seductive. Shameless. I found anger stirring within me once more.

At least running allows me to take my mind off things. This came into play now, as I distracted myself by keeping my footing. Eventually, I had gotten running down. I still trippedoccasionally, but not as much any longer.

As we pretty much galloped to the Oran woods, I tried to focus solely on my destination. However, the earth beneath me had other ideas.

The unexpected stone took me off my paws long enough to crash brutally across the landscape and straight into another rock. Being stopped short and having a lot of weight put on my neck, I gave an embarrassing yip in pain. Coughing or being in pain… It made me sound like a freaking puppy.

Sarah was at my side in an instant, of course. "Are you all right?" she asked frantically as she looked at my face. I was perfectly fine, but I could tell she was about to try and remove the pain anyways.

"Do not use heal pulse. The damage is minor, and you need your strength today," I ordered as Sarah began to open her mouth. She was going to argue, but I was not in the mood.

"Let's go."

* * *

The dungeon began after five minutes of walking into the forest. It was not like a cave entrance to a dungeon; the entire forest was the dungeon. Thus, when you got too far in, you wound up in the dungeon. The trees around you just get really thick and impossible to pass, like a wall of woodwork, and the place becomes a maze.

I have to admit: We made it through a lot of the dungeon with minimal injuries. My long-range night slash was overpowered for this kind of battle, and enemies fell unconscious almost faster than we noticed them.

For all of her faults, Sarah was an excellent teammate. Her sheer power was astonishing, and her range of attacks was impressive for combating different types of pokémon. In most cases, she just burns things away with her flamethrower.

Shedinja was an interesting case during battle. He was becoming proficient at firing off shadow balls, which Sarah has yet to master, but other than that, he seemed to not do much. Occasionally he would near something, and a flash of green energy in the shape of an 'x' would appear and damage the opponent. I suppose that it would be the new way he does x-scissor, but I couldn't be certain.

I watched as he used his swords dance, reminding me that—oh yeah—I have that move as well. Forgetting that is not always a good idea. Shedinja did not change physically, unlike what happens to me as my muscles bulge, but his attacks clearly did more damage.

I wondered if Shedinja was constricted by the same problem I was. I knew ever since I used that disk that if using swords dance more than three times was a big mistake. I recalled my muscles bulging in the skin, and I reckoned that they would literally and messily tear through the skin. That would be really painful, even if I did get a lot stronger in the process.

I turned my thoughts away from that disgusting prospect. I would never do that to myself, knowing how much I apparently mean to the others. No matter whose fault it was that everything happened the way it did.

But at some point, we found ourselves fighting something weird. It looked like a giant butterfly. It took me a moment to place it as a butterfree. Problem was, it was big, really big. Daemyn and Erza had once told me they fought such a thing, where Daemyn won, but would we have the same luck?

I summoned a set of holographic swords around me, and after they swirled for a while around me, they thrust upward and vanished. At the same time, my muscles bulged under the skin and I felt myself grow far more powerful.

I threw my night slash, which seemed to fly faster and I knew it would cause a lot more damage. However, with speed I would not associate with a butterfree, it flapped to the left. Then, it did something I've never seen before.

Flapping its wings, it created a massive white colored wind that was visible, and as I tried to jump, it expanded into a full force wind. I yelped in pain as the attack wreaked havoc with my body, as if it was a super effective attack. Maybe it was, but all I knew is that it hurt like hell.

 _Absol: the glass cannon of the pokémon world._

I was sent sailing over to a wall and bashed into a wall of trees, collapsing in a furry heap on the ground, my horn leaving quite the scratch in the tree. After a second of silence, I heard a roar of anger.

 **FWOOOOOSH!**

There was a squeal and the sound of something collapsing on the ground that sounded almost like an echo of my own landing. I looked up to see Sarah, blue eyes burning with a fiery rage and a blackened bug type on the ground.

 _She's extremely protective of the love of her life. Maybe getting hurt occasionally isn't so bad. At least, if anybody needs to be knocked out first, let it be me._

I don't need an overly attached psycho girlfriend with a flamethrower. I would prefer somebody less… overbearing. Why the heck was I thinking about a girlfriend right now? I was losing it.

The butterfree defeated, I stood shakily up on my paws and padded over to one of the many, many oran berries strewn about. The large blue fruit with its dark stem…I yearn for its taste even though it is far inferior to the taste of a glorious pecha berry.

 _What the hell is happening to my mind? Am I just sinking into the mindset of a pokémon or something?_

I was injured, however, so I grabbed the impossible healing berry and began to scarf it down quickly.

"Caleb! That's not-" Sarah cried out just as I was finishing it. I swallowed before freezing as if I had made eye contact with Medusa. After a few seconds, I unfroze and looked towards Sarah.

"It's not… what?" I asked, and I realized that I felt really weird for some reason. Something was very wrong. "What the-... what was that?" I asked desperately. Apparently, it was bad considering Sarah had just yelled at me.

My mind was muddled a bit, which I didn't understand. Was I getting confused again? Sarah tried to say something, but I had difficulty understanding her words.

"That 'oran berry' had too dark of a stem! It was a fake berry!" Sarah exclaimed, running over to me while I tried to retain my mentality. My wounds were not repaired, and my mind… It was slipping away.

Literally, I felt as if certain aspects of my mind were just fading away. I wondered what was happening to me, but my rising fear had slipped away into a peaceful quiet… Quiet…

I blacked out.

 **⽕Sarah's POV⽕**

"Caleb!" I shouted, checking him over and over "Don't let that berry get to your stomach! It's an Oren berry! They-" I cut myself short. Caleb's eyes had stopped flicking about and looked vacant.

 _Oh, crap…_

Caleb was always heavily affected by status effects like sleep and confusion. He was amazingly strong, but he quickly succumbed to the effects of the fake oran berry. Those things are really bad. Your mind shuts down, and you start acting either as if a newborn or otherwise like a childish idiot.

For a horrible moment, I started to think that perhaps I could take advantage of his weakness by staying as close as possible. I shoved that forcefully away from my mind, realizing just how horrible it was. Besides, this Caleb was not the one I knew. He was about to be an idiot.

Caleb blinked his vacant eyes a few times, and looked up at me. It was weird to see that look on his face. Those mindless eyes and… that stupid smile showing on his face.

"...Hi" Caleb said. That was it. Nothing else.

" **Shedinja**." Shedinja said, floating back a bit. That seemed to be his way of showing surprise and generally being freaked out. I was freaking out. "Caleb, snap out of it," I said to my beloved.

Caleb blinked a few times, his head tilted more than normal. "...Snap out of… what?" Caleb asked. He'd become a proper moron in seconds. "Come on, Caleb! Think?"

"What?"

I looked at him with worry erupting in my mind. Was Caleb going to recover from this? When he had been confused, he had to be knocked out before it wore off. I thought that his weird confusion may have had something to do with the dark power he had been around.

Shedinja got close to him, distracting the simpleton. Caleb looked blankly at Shedinja's shell, and then raised a paw and batted at it. Like a kit. His claws sparked harmlessly off of Shedinja's shell, but the bug and ghost type recoiled anyways.

Caleb's eyes had watched the sparks fall until they vanished from view, and he stared at that spot until I decided to intervene. I looked right at Shedinja. "We need to get him somewhere safe," I ordered, taking charge.

Caleb's head tilted, and he was about to say something, but Shedinja distracted him before he could ask a question. Shifting in front of the poor guy, Shedinja distracted Caleb by moving from Caleb's left to his right. Like a kit, his eyes followed the moving object.

 _Oren induced innocence. I'm an idiot; I never told him that there were fake oran berries._

I tried to remember how they worked. They had just been stories, but I had reason to trust them. First came this, the phase where the mind is completely gone. Then, it comes back over time. They would be out of it for a while, and even after they've 'fully' recovered, they might be uncoordinated for hours.

Somewhere in the middle was the stage where they were just really out of it, though they would have memories of that. The first little while of the berry's effect wouldn't even be remembered, as the mind was pretty much completely gone.

I really wanted to just snuggle up against the helpless absol, but I tried my best to shove it down. I needed to wait until he was at least regaining some form of consciousness, but my mind was not with the program.

I walked over to a corridor, intending to find a more private place. We needed to keep this bloke safe, and the best way to do that would be to seal us away. We had passed a dead end a while back with a small entrance that could be defended.

Caleb followed me like a lost kit, Shedinja guarding the area behind him. Shedinja had to blast a few fools who thought that they could take advantage of Caleb's weakness. A few lefts later, we arrived at a doorway of sorts made out of vines that held a small room about the size of our bedroom.

I led the others inside and Shedinja floated in the doorway. He would keep watch, hopefully. Caleb was walking about slowly and wobbly, looking weirdly at the walls. I needed to get him to sleep or something. I tried to remember if there was a way to make somebody sleep without a move doing so.

 _Come on… There must be something my used to be genius said…_

And then, something popped into my mind.

 _"Servine, if I covered your eyes with my paws, you would fall asleep on the spot,"_ Caleb had once told Erza. She had been very tired at the time, but would it work if the person were Caleb, and would it work if said absol was just plain dumb?

"Caleb, come over here," I commanded. Shedinja turned to view me silently, though I shook my head at him. I wasn't trying anything.

 _Yet._

I tried to shove it away, but it persisted. Was there something wrong with my head? Was that why I couldn't let him go ever? "Caleb, I'm going to cover your eyes," I warned the buffoon, who stared at me unwittingly.

Shedinja seemed to understand what I was doing, and turned back around to keep watch. It would be difficult for me to cover his eyes at once, but I would have to try. Rearing up on my hind legs, I planted my paws on his eyes and tried to retain my balance as he recoiled ever so slightly. I waited for a few seconds, and he seemed to wobble a bit. When I could no longer hold my balance, I dropped down.

Caleb's eyes were indeed closed, and he fell to the side if I had not caught him by the scruff. I helped him down to the ground and set him in a comfortable lying position. Then, I laid down next to him on impulse.

" **Shedinja**." Shedinja intoned without any apparent emotion. I could pretty much tell what he was saying though. I did not answer the ghost, instead focusing on the warmth I felt from Caleb. He had used swords dance before he ate that terrible fruit and his muscles bulged under his skin.

I would stay with him until he awoke, and hopefully the worst of what he was going through would pass. My Caleb would come back after a while, and Oren berries caused no permanent damage to the mind. It just shuts it down for a while, makes them act weirdly. It would be hard to control him when he got a little bit of his brain back. When it returned fully, he should be all right and ready to do. Ready to do the mission.

 _And then he'll get away from me as fast as possible._

That thought made me sad. What would it take him to fall in love? I was so certain…

Caleb breathed slowly as he fought the mind numbing effects of the fake oran berry. My fur was really messed up, which I quickly amended for what I could reach without waking Caleb. Watching him bat at stuff like a baby would have amused anybody else, but I liked Caleb how he was without being afflicted by something. Smart, strong, never giving up, Nice and respectful, knowing when he needs to take charge and when to let others make decisions.

And here I was fantasizing again. Someday in the future, I would get the bloke to give me a kiss. Whether he wanted to be with me or not, I **would** get him to fall in love with me. I promised myself I would find a way to do it, but I needed to figure out what I was doing first.

It would be a couple hours maybe until Caleb woke up. There was certainly time to get comfortable and be warm. Just a few hours with Caleb sleeping next to me... And Shedinja's seemingly judgmental look as he stared emotionlessly at me. He did not like what I was doing. To be honest, I knew it was not acceptable for me to do.

But I wasn't going to stop this time around. Not for the next few hours.

* * *

Caleb woke up two and a half hours later roughly. "Guh... Wha'appen?" he muttered, still mostly out of it.

I looked at him. His eyes were droopy and he looked very tired. "Hey, you're awake," I said cheerfully to him. Caleb looked at me blankly, but there was at least something going on in his head.

"Why're you... It's..." Caleb mumbled, head dropping back down. He was having trouble thinking. So was I, really, evidenced by the fact that I could not keep myself from snuggling up against him. And then Caleb showed off just how much his mind was muddled by doing the same to me.

Deep down, I knew that this was not Caleb. It was the result of any pokémon eating an Oren berry, but I still reveled in his Oren induced affections. Shedinja grew close to Caleb, taking a break from his guard duty to check up on the absol.

"...Hi..." Caleb muttered as he saw Shedinja "'ow're things goin'?" he asked.

"... **Shedinja** " Shedinja seemed to reluctantly answer. Nobody understood it at all, but Caleb gave a stupid smile and went back to being beyond relaxed. He just rested against me, occasionally mumbling something either incoherent or otherwise silly.

Eventually, the little hiding spot we had was invaded by some bug types, and Shedinja went to handle them. I was surprised at this point, that he did not just blast me away from Caleb, but I guess he really did not want to hurt me at all. Considering his body seemed to not take no for an answer, he probably could have just pushed me out of the way.

I wondered why he didn't just do that. I knew he was patient, especially compared to some of us, but I had to be causing him quite the headache. I didn't want to, but something about Caleb kept me going, kept me loving him and watching him. It was almost...

Now that's something I refuse to think about.

I could just enjoy this while it lasted, because I knew now that even Caleb had a few limits, though I did not know what those were for this particular kind of annoyance. All I could really do was snuggle up against the guy and hope for the best.

Shedinja got in my face. " **Shedinja**."

"I don't understand," I told him, lying through my teeth because I definitely got the gist of it: Quit acting like this, because it's not acceptable. Shedinja turned around silently and went back to watching the entrance, firing off a shadow ball down the hall and causing an explosion.

"Wa's happen'?" Caleb mumbled, "Fight?"

"No, you should just rest," I corrected him. He did as he was told and leaned on me and closed his eyes. His breathing told me he had fallen asleep again. I guess he needed a few naps here and there to keep going, or maybe that was the Oren berry.

 _Sleep tight, Caleb._

* * *

 **⽯Caleb's POV⽯**

 _I was... Asleep? What has happened to me? Normally I dream now that I am an absol. My mind... It's like I have distorted memories or something... I didn't really..._

My mind suddenly exploded into motion as I shook off the remainder of that horrid berry. Why I was never warned about this, I'll never know. I was sleeping on something warm. Was it a bed? It was extremely comfortable and seemed to exude warmth.

 _I had been... I had... I had **Snuggled** with Sarah!_

 _That berry! I'll never eat an oran berry again! I have to get out of here now!_

 **BOOM**!

My quick attack launched me right out of the room in my panic, shooting through the hallways for a while before I was sure Sarah couldn't follow me.

 _That blasted red absol! Taking advantage of me!_

I forced myself to calm down. I could not afford to get openly angry with the girl. She was arrogant, and extremely clingy, but I did not want to hurt her feelings. The worst part of that was that I had liked the warmth I had felt. It was comforting, like sleeping on a thick warm carpet.

I shook my head again. I guess that stupid fake oran berry had not completely worn off yet. I was **not** thinking that way. I was **not**. I looked about, wondering where the heck I was because I had just taken several random turns.

And found that I was surrounded by little bug pokémon, all preparing a painful bug type attack.

 _Cripes. This isn't my day!_

I bolted using quick attack once more to leap over the horde and land on the other side of the room. Then, I crouched low and swung my horn in a horizontal fashion. I had no reason to believe it would work perfectly because I was thinking about it on the fly, but it wasn't bad for a first attempt.

My night slash expanded as usual as it sailed across the floor, effectively plowing through enemies until one of its edges struck the ground and the entire blade violently detonated and flung the horde away in an explosion of green and orange bug types. A few were standing, or rather, running away as fast as possible.

 _I need to work on getting that attack as horizontal as possible to actually get through the group._

But it worked. I sighed as I realized I should probably find the other two, but I would not start anything with Sarah right now. I needed to get into a state of mind where I would not find myself shouting at the girl. She was just a girl with no self-control. She did not deserve my anger.

 _Just a girl... Listen to me. She's my damn teammate! I'm supposed to stabilize communications and relationships with my team!_

 _Not that kind of relationship. Never, ever think of that in the wrong way._

Arguing with myself again. I wondered if the headaches would return. There were many things I did not know about what was going wrong. Perhaps without the dark energy's presence, it would be easier to fight instinct. I certainly hope so. I did not need anything... **new** happening to me.

There was the stairs. If I went up them, my team would find themselves with me just like normal. Then, Sarah would likely say something to me, and Shedinja might try to say something that I will have to ignore to understand, and then we will continue if things work out.

But so far, I seem to be life's prank victim numero uno.

I sighed and walked down the stairs. Next floor would be the one with the team of outlaws, and thankfully, the next one immediately afterwards would have the braixen, whatever a braixen was.

Upon entering the next floor of forest, Sarah and Shedinja popped into existence next to me. Sarah was **still** close to me. I got away quickly. No time for her shenanigans. Sarah responded by trying to get closer once more.

"This floor holds the team of outlaws," I said as if I was an army general, looking from Shedinja to Sarah and back, "We must be on guard at all times. No shenanigans. No distractions. We could be ambushed, and we have no idea what the enemy is capable of. Shedinja, I do not know the limits of your invulnerability, so you must be on guard. Sarah, stay at **least** three feet from me and be prepared to burn whatever attacks us. I will be diligent as always."

Shedinja shifted up and down, but Sarah looked very disappointed. I settled for giving her my disappointed look. Sarah responded by looking down as if in shame. As if. She has never felt shame for her actions before, why would she start now?

I led the way into the corridor of the next maze. Whoever these two were, they could be trouble. Hiding out in a forest dungeon was common considering that hiding spots were a little more abundant than most. The Oran Woods particularly had many bushes scattered around.

I did have to understand something however. "I have little memory of what happened to me after I ate that horrid fake," I commented, "What happened?"

"Well, the first part you went completely brain dead and acted like a newborn kit," Sarah started, making me shudder. Of **course** I did. "Then, when you regained a little bit of your brainpower, you had trouble speaking and reasoning and would have moved around a lot if I hadn't told you to stay still. Otherwise you would have gotten yourself into trouble," Sarah continued.

I looked sharply at Sarah now. "You're saying I was **drunk**?" I asked. Sarah tilted her head at the word I used.

"Drunk?" she inquired and I mentally smacked myself.

"It's... a lengthy explanation. Later, all right?" I asked. I realized that was an uncommon type of thing for me to say, and that I have been acting weird today again. I had yet to interrogate Sarah about the whole coming of age thing.

 _My life is excessively complicated..._

There was a large room to the left of our hallway, which we walked into cautiously. However, there was absolutely no need to be cautious at all. The enemies were there, sure, but they were out in plain view of us near the back of the room.

 _Seriously? Have you never heard of tactics?_

One pokémon looked like she was wearing a dress made out of leaves, with two flowers on her head. She gave me a sweet smile I really didn't care for. The other stopped me in my tracks. She was a giant dinosaur type creature with four massive leaves extending from her back in the place many birds would have wings. She had fruits growing right out of her neck, and they looked like bananas.

I wondered what each one's trick was. I could assume that the large dinosaur of sorts was the powerhouse, but what could this little grass type do? I analyzed the two of them with my eye as they smiled confidently.

"They have a plan..." Sarah murmured before I could. I had been about to say the same thing, but now I did not need to. I wondered how often that would happen.

Shedinja faded right out of existence, hopefully intending to catch the two enemies off guard later. I began to walk forward in the hopes of giving Shedinja that chance. What would I say? What could I say? Likely very little would do to start the conversation.

The small grass type saved me from that by speaking first. "Oh dear, you didn't think you'd be bringing us back to that guild, did you?" the small being said in a pretty voice that had absolutely no effect on me whatsoever.

"That is the goal of our mission," I stated, continuing to travel forward, "This can be made easier for each and every one of us if you come with us willingly."

The little pokémon giggled and got close to me as I neared her. "Now, don't be so hasty, boy. You don't need to take us in, right?" she asked, giving me what looked like puppy eyes. I was not affected in the slightest.

"You have been targeted for your consistent record of theft and trickery, using a method that victims either are uncertain of or refuse to speak of," I recited, recalling the little amount of information given.

"Oh, but you wouldn't hurt a little bellossom like me?" The now identified bellossom asked sweetly, giving me an adoring look I cared nothing for.

"I would not hesitate," I warned the little being, and turned and walked back. Sarah had stuck around and watched my back as I walked a few meters, then turned around.

I prepared for a fight. Sarah looked extremely fierce, probably because Bellossom had made an advance on me. Neither of us were enthusiastic about that. Shedinja was still nowhere to be found.

I lowered myself while Sarah prepared a flamethrower. The grass types recoiled slightly at the sight of the ball of fire in Sarah's mouth, but Bellossom quickly regained her composure. "Now, don't be so hasty, I'm just trying to have some fun; have a conversation," Bellossom said, keeping that smile and seductive look right on me at all times. I scowled at the girl, and Sarah's fire grew in intensity.

"Defend yourself," I said and generated my night slash with relative speed and launched the attack at Bellossom. To my surprise, red petals surrounded the pokémon and she spun out of the way with impressive speed before going straight at Sarah.

Sarah tried to blast her with fire, but an intense wind blew away the flames and Sarah was struck with little damage to bellossom. I tried to attack once more, but a wind blew away the attack.

That tropius was just so **annoying**.

"Sarah, take that tropius out!" I called. I wondered if shedinja would try to do something as well. Not surprisingly, he did. He popped into existence as Sarah charged them.

Then, everything went wrong. Tropius' leaves started to glow a brilliant white and she smacked Shedinja before his shadow ball could come into play. Instead of taking it like a champion, Shedinja simply dropped to the ground, motionless. Had he really been taken out in one hit?

Sarah's attack got nowhere because of the wind, and her water pulse would do little in the way of damage to these two. I turned my attention back to Bellossom, who was smirking and putting her small hands together.

"Guilds should never send boys to capture **me** ," she said cheerfully "It never works out for them, does it?"

A pink energy in the shape of a cartoon heart started swirling within her arms as she separated them. I did **not** want to be on the receiving end of that, even not knowing what it did. I leaped back, but Bellossom just disappeared.

"Silly boy," Bellossom whispered from **right** behind me. She was fast! I hadn't even been able to follow her with my absol sense! I tried to whirl, but I was too slow for the very fast grass type. She smashed me right in the face with that heart, and pushed me away.

"Caleb!" Sarah cried out. She sounded worried about me, even though I did not feel that hurt. My eyes felt weird, like something was on them. I tried to keep them closed. However,something shut down my mind for the most part.

"Now, dear," Said the most beautiful voice I had ever heard. I would do anything for that voice. I knew whomever it belonged to would have to be the most beautiful person I had ever seen. I loved her instantly. "Why don't you open your eyes for me?" The voice finished.

I obeyed instantly. A beautiful woman stood in front of me, her leaf dress swaying in the slight breeze and her flowers on her head just so... Obvious. She was wonderful, pretty... I stared wide eyed at the beauty in front of me, trying to find my voice.

"Caleb!" I heard distantly "Don't let her-"...

I stopped listening, mostly because Bellossom had just batted her eyes at me. "Now, Caleb," Bellossom began, and I watched her eagerly. "Why don't you tell me what you think?"

What did I think? My mind was on a loop. "B...beautiful," I stammered. Somebody came over and leaped between my new beloved and me. Sarah. The blasted absol was obstructing my **view**. I stood up and glared at her. How **dare** she get between us?

Bellossom giggled behind me. "Don't bother, girl. He's mine, now," she giggled, and I nodded enthusiastically. Sarah glared back at her, and that made me angry. Nearly too late, I realized that Sarah was building a flamethrower in her closed mouth. Bellossom seemed to notice the same time, as I was already moving.

"Save me!" Bellossom quickly shouted as she tried to get away from the enraged Sarah. She need not have worried, because her knight in shining armor got in the way just in time.

 **FWOOOSH!**

 **⽕Sarah's POV⽕**

I stared in horror as Caleb was blasted away. He had taken the hit for Bellossom! I had heard of attract, but **this**... Caleb was completely out of his mind! Caleb was glaring at me as he stood up shakily. I had torched him! I looked into his eyes, and saw that they had changed from a red color to a bright pink, probably a side effect of the attack.

Shedinja was down, Caleb was incapacitated, and Tropius hurt like all heck. I was alone in this fight, and to make it all worse, I had just hurt Caleb. Emotions whipped into a tornado within me, and rage grew in its place.

Winds began to whip around me fiercely. The familiar sphere of destructive wind power surrounded me as I planned to take out Bellossom in one single go. Bellossom never lost that grin even in the face of my intense abilities.

"Now, now, don't be so hasty," Bellossom said, patting Caleb on the head as he nuzzled against her and increased my anger, "I'm sure Caleb would be more than happy to protect me." Caleb nodded vigorously and glared at me through the wind sphere. He would do it. He would get in the way.

The winds began to die as I realized I could not do it. I could not hurt Caleb. I stared helplessly at the enchanted absol. Attract was scary now that I was seeing it face to face. It could make even the sturdiest people love you unconditionally...

 _Love me unconditionally..._

I had a battle to focus on, and I had to do this without hurting Caleb. It was three against one now. However, Bellossom decided to change that.

"You seem to like him enough to keep on loving this oaf even if I make him attack you, so let's make things more painful instead," Bellossom giggled, "Caleb, why don't you go near Tropius for me?"

Caleb immediately did what he was told, but he kept an eye on me as he went. If I tried to attack Bellossom, he would retaliate. Tropius gave Bellossom a cross look as if she disapproved of the smaller pokémon's horrid game. I wasn't sure what she was doing, but I was sure I would not like it.

"Now, Tropius," Bellossom smiled. Tropius raised a single massive foot over Caleb, looking down at the absol. Way too late, I realized what Bellossom meant.

"No!" I shouted at the top of my lungs as Tropius stepped down and crushed Caleb flat. I stared in horror at the crater Caleb's unconscious form had made. Bellossom was giggling horribly, and Tropius was looking at me as if judging my reaction.

"Now, Bellossom, this was too far. I have done as you asked, but this..." Tropius said in the background. Bellossom smirked at me, and that was the last straw.

"You..." I began, wind whipping around me faster than ever before, my power fueled by rage.

"Hurt..." I continued, opening my mouth and adding flame to it, creating a shell of fire around me that hissed with hot power and volatile energy. This was not a direct attack. Oh, no, it was not.

" **CALEB**!" I roared, releasing the energy and unleashing a wide wave of supercharged fire in all directions. Bellossom was roasted instantly, the grass type slamming into a wall and getting stuck in some branches, out cold. Tropius waved some of the fire away, but was still hit with the flying/fire combination. She managed to escape conscious, but I could push her over and defeat her.

I chose the more angry option for finishing her off. I whipped up more wind and threw Bellossom out of the tree and right into the giant grass type's face, knocking the massive pokémon right out as she succumbed to her injuries.

I ran to Caleb, knowing he held the reviver seeds, and searched for them. Eventually, I had two. I hurriedly put one in Caleb's mouth and got him to swallow it by tilting his head back, and then ran to Shedinja. How was I going to feed an empty shell this?

Shedinja solved my problem by the seed seeming to turn into pure energy, separating into several points of light, and then being absorbed into Shedinja's body. I ran back to Caleb without comment and waited for him to awake. His burns were already fading away as he was fully restored.

 _Come on, Caleb._

 **⽯Caleb's POV⽯**

 _Ugh... My head..._

I opened my eyes blearily, seeing Sarah stand worriedly over me. Were we defeated? What happened to me? What was I-...?

I was... I had been...

 _What the hell is wrong with me!?_

Sarah looked incredibly relieved. "You're awake!" She exclaimed, and then got pretty close to me. I did not feel like launching her right now, so I just ignored her advance... And her scent. "Are... Are you still under the effects of attract?" she asked. Attract? That was the technique used to make me suffer?

I had wanted to... I had thought about... My mind had been way out of whack, and my experience in the human world made my recent thought process all the worse. I winced at the thought of my actions and thoughts, promising myself I would never, ever repeat them.

I shook my head vigorously and tried to clear the nasty thoughts that had no grounds in this world. It wouldn't have worked like that anyhow. The one thing that I hated most was that I had been affected so easily. I had been completely helpless, at the mercy of an egotistical and potentially slightly sadistic bellossom because of that one horrifying attack.

"No, no I am not still affected," I said, "That... was **horrible**."

Sarah nodded sympathetically. "I've heard of it, but I've never experienced it. I'm sorry she did that to you..." She replied. I caught her holding back on using the term 'I'm sorry that happened'. However, I dismissed the phenomenon.

Shedinja floated up to us. I was going to ask how he had been revived, but I was too busy trying to figure out why Shedinja had been taken out by a hit when other attacks had no effect whatsoever for him.

"So... Now we know what attract does, and that Shedinja needs to be more cautious around faster pokémon, and that I can blow things up when I really want to," Sarah mused. Her tone changed with each observation.

 _Blow things up? Oh..._

I looked around, seeing that the entire room was burned black with flames licking most things. The two grass types were lying surrounded by threatening flames. What the heck had happened here? Shedinja looked about wildly while I stared at the two defeated enemies.

I gave Sarah my questioning look, and Sarah gave a little giggle. "Oh, I just went a little... nuts when Tropius crushed you." she said as calmly as possible. I blinked.

"So you burned everything? Why not just target the enemies?" I asked, finding fault in her use of energy.

"No, I just combined flamethrower and razor wind and made a firebomb," Sarah commented offhandedly. I blinked again, which Sarah smiled at. Apparently, my normal look for confusion was appealing to her. Then again, what part of me wasn't apparently appealing to her?

"We should continue," I commented, walking up to the outlaws without another word. It was in the attempt to bringing the potentially embarrassing conversation to a screeching halt. It worked for the moment as I prepared to use my badge as I had been instructed to teleport the outlaws to the guild where they would be held until we could collect our reward.

"Find those stairs so that I can get the heck out of here and never ever return," I said, properly traumatized by the fake oran berry and the attract attack both. It was the mirror funhouse scene all over again.

The stairs took a good twenty minutes to find, but I was not worried. One fight to go, and then everything was good to go. Day over, and I could relax. Relaxation, preferably involving a lengthy shower followed by sleep, where I would take another few hours in that hot tub I had made.

That just sounded like a beautiful rest of my day.

A bipedal fox like pokémon with a stick embedded in her tail sat on a tree stump in the room we entered upon reaching our staircase. She looked utterly relaxed. I was not relaxed, however.

"Mischief-making braixen, it said on your outlaw request," I commented, drawing the attention of the fox in question, "It gives me pause to understand what kind of mischief earns you the title of outlaw, but I suppose it really is not my job to question such things. I **do** question them, incidentally, but my job is to fight you. That is, if you do not want to come nicely."

"Come nicely?" Braixen asked, "Why would I do that?"

"I have more or less recently learned that the punishments for being caught as an outlaw are relatively tame," I explained, moving closer, "If you do not wish to be injured in battle to bring you along, we can simply bring you along willingly."

Braixen laughed. It was the kind that told me I was missing some crucial information. "You don't really understand how this works, do you, oh so powerful and reputable human?" she asked, startling me. Instead of asking the obvious 'how did you know that', I raised my eyebrow at the fox.

Braixen spread her arms in an expansive gesture. "Just picking a fight with pokémon around town is just no good. Cause a bit of trouble, get yourself on a list of outlaws, and have a proper fight with repercussions if you lose!" She explained cheerfully.

I blinked. "You do this so that you can have a **serious** fight? You do not consider regular fights serious enough?" I asked incredulously before I began to think. Fighting was a lifestyle here. So this braixen... She was pretty much just bored?

"What kind of mischief did you even get into that would get you on the outlaw board?" I asked. Braixen smirked. "Oh, just some magic tricks, **human**. Just like discovering who you were by getting you to walk on my little information circle" she said, pointing to the ground underneath me.

I whipped my head downwards, making my neck complain in the process, and looking at the lines on the ground I hadn't even noticed. Two circles, one within the other, and both filled with intricate symbols.

"The outer circle protects against detection from the absol species" Braixen explained, "It's my own version of that delphox's. You know, the one with the gold colored eye. I didn't get it perfect, so some pokémon in the lucario family could probably detect it, but I have a separate circle for that."

"You... blocked my absol sense with **magic**?" I asked, honestly impressed. I hadn't even learned to sense magic properly, though I bet I would have noticed something. That there was something to do that was something to keep in mind for the future, especially if this delphox with the gold colored eye was going to be in the tournament.

 _No, she definitely will be. Everyone will be, probably even this girl._

"Yes, I did," Braixen replied proudly. I nodded.

"Well then, it seems to be a fight you are looking for, so that is what we will do" I told the fox, who immediately braced herself and gripped the stick in her tail.

Braixen whipped out the stick in her hand and held it like a wand. She could do magic, and that meant that she would actually be casting spells at me. I wondered what kind of spells.

I went and scratched at the outer circle to break the symbol, and watched as the outer ring faded right away. Immediately, the force behind the inner circle was apparent to my senses. "Quite an interesting design," I commented casually. Braixen seemed startled, thinking that the fight was not actually starting and slightly lowering her wand.

 _Just as I planned._

As she lowered her wand, I shot forward with a quick attack and slammed the fox away and into a wall. Braixen gave out a groan, and I worried I had done too much damage before I realized that my attacks would probably not do anything in the way of permanent damage.

I raced in to finish the fight efficiently, because I really did not want to get enchanted with something.

Braixen jumped up and pointed her wand at me. "Warient!" She shouted, launching something red at me. I avoided with my quick attack and lunged again. However, the fox wave that wand and I slammed into an invisible wall.

"Calio!" Braixen recited, hitting me with a yellow bolt that had me flying straight into the air for a few meters and then away from the fox at an incredible speed. Crashing against the opposite wall, I let out my own groan.

Sarah gave a cry when I got hurt, and I knew she was about to join the fray. At least her undying love for me leads to her gaining power and motivation in fights. Good things can come out of bad things, it seems.

Sarah unleashed her fire. I did not know why, because I was pretty sure this girl was a fire type. Braixen summoned another shield, this one blue. Blue means water, so that meant she was going so specifically block attacks with specific shields.

So what kind of attack had few things that were resistant to it? Dark was one. She could use a fighting type or a bug type shield, but I did not think fighting would make a good shield. Being able to throw it would be a good surprise as well.

Sarah gave me the time I needed to make a plan by starting to fire off water pulses. Braixen was using green shields, but Sarah's onslaught was not about to relent. Shedinja provided another distraction as well, which was great. Shedinja appeared behind Braixen and hit the poor fix with a quick shadow ball.

The green shield faded as Braixen was struck, and then she was hit with the water pulse as well. That she was not unconscious was impressive, but she looked hurt. I rushed forward to finish her off, and then everything went wrong for me.

I smacked my face flat against an invisible wall again, and I tried to pass it, but it was a circle around me. I looked down. Surrounded by another one of those absol sense blockers was another magic circle. She had set up traps!

"Be careful! There are traps!" I called to the others. Sarah instead of doing the smart thing and setting her attention solely on Braixen, She ran over to me and tried to break through. I shook my head and pointed to the braixen, hoping that Sarah would get the message. I sliced up the intricate marks in the ground with my shadow claw, but the shield did not deteriorate.

"Worry about me later! Get Braixen! I desperately yelled just as Braixen uttered a spell.

"Warient!"

The red bolt flew at me, and instead of doing the smart thing, Sarah tried to take the hit for me instead.

 _Idiot!_

Shedinja was the one to save Sarah, appearing in front of the attack and taking the enchantment. I cried out his name, but the attack hit shedinja and thorny vines sprouted from the impact zone and went to wrap around Shedinja and squeeze him. Thankfully, that seemed to have little effect.

Shedinja generated another shadow ball in front of him and launched it. Instead of pulling up a shield, Braixen dove out of the way of the attack. She then launched a bolt of fire from her wand without a word.

Because she was moving, she missed and instead hit me. I yelped as the fire burned my side. I was not able to avoid the thing because I had so little room to move. In fact, it was getting smaller around me. I worried that it would crush me, but it stopped at the point when I was no longer able to move at all. My tail was rather painfully pushed downward however.

Sarah was **still** fussing over my condition. "Mission first!" I furiously shouted at Sarah.

"Zorcactricas!" I heard, and saw a black and red sphere of light missing Shedinja completely as he dodged, and I couldn't move and Sarah was not paying attention. It hit me, and I felt a horrifying feeling of something **changing**. I felt myself getting much, much smaller.

A flash of light, and I suddenly had plenty of room to move. I looked up and saw... Sarah!? She was giant! Everyone was! I had shrunk down to the size of a freaking mouse! I checked myself and was glad to see that I was still an absol and not actually a mouse.

Sarah looked astonished, staring down at me. Braixen looked surprised as well. She sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. "Sorry, wrong spell. I was trying to encase your weird ghost friend in ice. Similar spell. I need to practice more," she admitted sheepishly.

 _I hate my life._

Sarah had turned angry eyes on Braixen, though I was more concerned with changing back. Having a bigger area to roam in, I went to the side not occupied by Sarah and tried to break through with a slash attack. No dice.

"Let Caleb go and fix him!" Sarah demanded, launching a water pulse at the braixen, who was far too busy to get out of the way or put up a shield. Together, Shedinja and Sarah bombarded the fox with attacks until she no longer moved.

Sarah obviously thought about hitting her once more, but I got her attention. My voice was much higher pitched, as the stereotypical shrunk person's would be. It was embarrassing. "Sarah, get a reviver seed and revive her." I commanded. Sarah was going to protest, I knew, but I gave her a glare that said I was **not** kidding around. Today was not my day, and any more crap was not going to be tolerated.

Sarah eventually did as asked, and Braixen awoke to see me staring crossly at her. She sat up, making herself far taller than I was. She saw me, and giggled. "I bet you're pretty mad at me right now. I made that spell myself, you know. Every magic user's got to make up a few of their own spells." She chuckled.

"You got your battle, though I admit the odds were stacked against you," I said, utterly hating the high pitched noises I was making that was supposed to be proper speech, "Now would you **please** counter this enchantment and come back to the guild?" I asked.

"Uh..." Braixen said, suddenly looked **extremely** guilty. "I'll come back, I lost, but... Uh... I may or may not have neglected to invent a counter curse," She admitted.

What.

WHAT?

" **What**!?" I shouted at the bipedal fox, who winced.

"Yeah, that's why I didn't use it right away on all of you..." She said, and now I was mad. I tried to curb my emotions, but that was not happening today. This day was pretty much the worst day of my life, and if it got any worse, I figured I would go insane.

I pulled out my badge from my bag, which thankfully shrunk with me this time, and promptly sent Braixen back to the guild. Then, I activated the badge to send my team back as well.

As a group of four, we all appeared together in the guild where the unconscious other outlaws were waiting for us to claim our reward. Officer Magnezone floated in wait. Braixen greeted the officer as if they were old friends.

"Hey, Officer! Is Goldeneye on duty at the moment?" Braixen asked, pointing to me. Unfortunately, this drew attention to me, and my worst fear of public embarrassment happened right then. The packed guild all looked right at me.

"Y-yes. I shall send for her immediately-y," Magnezone warbled, looking towards one of the magnemites surrounding him. It immediately flew off with surprising speed. I had to wait fifteen minutes while being watched my most. I guess having somebody so prevalent in their lives stuck like this was not usual.

Something flashed within the room, and I had to avert my eyes as a pokémon stepped out of the golden light. She looked like Braixen, but was probably the evolution of a braixen. Her eyes looked golden, but when the light faded, her left eye faded from gold to a red color. Her right eye remained golden, which was probably why she was known as goldeneye.

Ignoring the fact that she was named after a James bond movie, I watched Goldeneye walk up to the group. She frowned disapprovingly at Braixen, who quailed under her gaze.

"I **told** you," Goldeneye said, her eyes both flashing blood red for an instant, "Not to use that spell until you have mastered the complete nullification spell."

Goldeneye pointed her lengthier and much less crude looking wand at me and a white light appeared at the tip. "Noisia!" she exclaimed, and a brilliant white flash enveloped the entire room. I felt really weird again and felt the ground moving underneath my paws, until I opened my eyes to find that I was a normal size.

I bowed my head to Goldeneye. "Thank you," I said professionally. Goldeneye nodded and turned to Braixen.

"And you..." Goldeneye started, making Braixen flinch "Learn how to use that nullification spell before you attempt to do that to anybody again."

"...How?" Braixen asked of Goldeneye, who took the question without a facial expression. "...You could simply ask me to help you learn" Goldeneye offered. Braixen was completely uncomprehending for five solid seconds before her eyes lit up. "You... you mean it?" Braixen asked, apparently really happy about the idea of training under the delphox.

Tropius and Bellossom were taken away, though I suggested to Tropius that she find someone else to hang around with if she did not approve of Bellossom's actions. Tropius had taken it in silence, but she did look thoughtful.

* * *

My team and Amber's team went into the cafe while Amber and I spoke for a little bit.

"Amber, I will keep your secret if you want me to, and if you want to tell them yourself, but I do want to give you some advice. Keeping secrets is fine, but you have to understand that being stressed out about something is very unhealthy if you do not talk about it."

"O-okay..." Amber replied. I gave her a smile and walked inside, having known that Sarah was eavesdropping the whole time with my absol sense but unwilling to chastise her for it, I avoided actually speaking of her secret at all.

"Hey, Caleb!" Daemyn called from the table while I walked by to give our ingredients to Spinda. There was one more pokémon at the table this time; that riolu that I had met this morning.

"Hello," I replied as I walked by to Spinda's counter.

* * *

"How was your day?" Erza asked me five minutes later after the group had finished talking about their training day. They wanted to tell me about the bullshit I had gone through today? I had better answer, but I wanted to give them the fast and less embarrassing version.

"Okay... Let's start with my morning. I woke up and Sarah told me that it was my birthday. However, that's about four months early," I started quickly, trying to explain it before they started congratulating me. Unfortunately, they did anyways.

After I suffered through a dozen happy birthdays that were very cheerful, sincere, and **loud** , I tried to explain that it **couldn't** be so because I had four months to go before I was eighteen. However, I was apparently physically eighteen.

"Then it's your birthday, you goofball," Erza reasoned. I sighed, realizing that I was getting nowhere with this.

"Fine, fine, it's my new birthday. Whatever." I said finally.

"What's up?" Daemyn asked, noticing my mood, "You seem down."

"After I met Riolu here at the storage when he was asking about Jake, we traveled to the oran woods. I will say that I will **never** go to the Oran woods ever again." I started the story again,"First, I had no clue that fake oran berries existed. Then, after I had gone brain dead and was apparently **drunk** , I proceeded to try and fight two outlaws at once where I got hit with attract for the first time, **followed** by being crushed by a tropius and Sarah blowing up the entire room. Immediately afterwards was a fight with a braixen, which shrunk me down with magic and... well..." I trailed off. They got the message.

They did indeed, with wide eyes and sympathy in their expressions. "All that in one day?" Jake asked.

"It was properly traumatizing," I admitted. Daemyn nudged me.

"Hey, at least it's over, right?" he asked. I nodded mutely. Finally, it was Erza's tangela to start snickering.

Was it funny that my luck was so bad? I did not think so presently. However, some of the others began to laugh as well. Why was this funny? Should I be laughing? I thought back to Amber's idea of putting tragedy at the back of my mind and continuing with life. How would I do that?

Laughter. It seemed like such a... **Happy** thing. Should I let go of the pain from this trauma? It would be a bad memory for a long time to come. I was not about to laugh yet, because I had one more thing to say that I felt might just amuse the others.

My head hit the table with a loud **clunk**. All eyes turned to me and the laughter died out. "Worst... Birthday... **Ever**." I muttered. There was silence for a few minutes, until everyone burst out laughing. I guess the sight of me with my face pressed against the table in defeat was too good to pass up.

"In all... **Lack** of seriousness," I began, straightening to watch them laugh ever harder. Even Amber was giggling a bit. "I think I've somehow made it onto Life's shit list today."

And my friends laughed for a long, long time.

* * *

 **Θ Omniscient POV Θ**

"Rubbish. He's **not** on my shit list," The girl in green clothing said as she watched the proceedings in the extradimensional window. She had black hair that hung to her shoulders and green clothing that looked like a battle suit, though it was not so tight that it would be inappropriate.

" **Now, Alex** ," A distorted male voice said, drawing the girls attention to a boy sitting at the back of the room, " **I'm certain he didn't mean you specifically**."

"I'm just joking," Alex replied easily, turning back to see the friends laughing. "It's good to see the bloke laugh." She commented. The boy stood up and stepped out of the shadows. He wore a short sleeve brown and black shirt with battle equipment on it and black sweatpants on that were wider near the base and moved as it blowing in a nonexistent wind. His inch and a half long red hair was easily seen, and his irises were purple.

" **You know I do not approve of our seemingly consistent interference here** ," The boy said, his voice not matching what one would expect from the seeming seventeen year old. His eyes did not look like a human's eyes either. Not only were they purple, but they looked **old**. Experienced.

"Yeah," Alex replied. They were watching silently for another few minutes until more people came into the room. A yellow flash announced the arrival of a girl with white skin. Everything else was gold. Her eyes, hair, and armor glittered the color gold. From a white and blue rift walked a boy with blond hair and silver clothing.

The girl named Alex nodded to the other two, though the red haired boy just seemed to darken. Literally. The golden girl looked in and laughed. "Hey, they're getting along!" She exclaimed cheerfully.

"Yep." Alex said, though the red haired boy was quiet. The gold-clad girl put her hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, you're not still mad at us, right?" she asked.

" **We interfere far too much** ," the boy replied stiffly, " **And I have not forgotten that you have recently gone on a spree of breaking apart the boundaries of several universes. Ripping apart the skin of the multiverse is not only dangerous, but it always has unforeseen consequences**."

His voice sounded angry, and the girl in gold recoiled as she recognized mild anger in the boy in front of her. His power was already spreading, its aura making several items rattle on a nearby table and the lights grow darker.

" **I am not happy with you in any manner. Neither of you, to be frank. The both of you have interfered with universes recently, though you have interfered far more than Kaigetsu, Angelica** ," the boy said, causing the girl to step backward. Then, she seemed to grow bold.

"And you? What about your own interference?!" she demanded, hoping to alleviate some of the anger directed at her.

The boy in question sighed. " **We agreed together to place those treasures in the care of several legendaries in this universe three thousand years ago. As for the ender crystal, that was not me. Rather, Flux did so**." The boy explained. His anger did subside and the light returned to the room.

" **If we continue to interfere, I fear that the inhabitants of this world can no longer call their achievements their own. I will not allow this to happen, and so I forbid any more interference as I have already done. Understand that I will not be at all happy if any of us continue to interfere despite our ancient laws** ," the boy growled.

The girl in golden armor nodded, though she did not seem very regretful of her actions. "Yeah. We have interfered enough. You should probably keep Flux in check though," she relented. This brought a nod from the boy as he stared down at the heartwarming scene.

"I understand," Alex said, and she did. She knew that what he was not saying was another reason not to interfere, but that card would not be vocally played until he grew angrier than this. The **real** reason he did not want the guardians to interfere. The pain that the poor guy had to go through whenever a power too great tried to become involved in the world.

He was the guardian of darkness and the god of death after all.

* * *

 **Enter the guardians! These guys will be expanded on over time, so don't worry. They won't remain utter mysteries forever. They will remain mysteries for quite a while, however. Hints will be dropped, and some information will be given. Now, there are a few aspects to them that I am willing to share, but would rather do so in PM right now until that information is released in the story. I will answer some questions about them in PMs, if you were to send a PM to me asking about them.**

 **Review as always, please.**

 **OCs by PM, please.**

 **Thanks to Pigeoncracker for proofreading.**

 **Good day, everyone.**

* * *

 **Name:**

 **Age:**

 **Gender:**

 **Species:**

 **Personality:**

 **Background (this may be lengthy):**

 **Unique Aspect (optional):**

 **Other:**


	7. Chapter Seven

**Hey, everybody. Let's get on with reviews, shall we? I almost forgot the A/N... Silly, of me, right?**

 **Well, Phillip Harbindinger, you will have to wait and see. I can't spoil that.**

 **That seems to be the only review I got for chapter six. Okay. Let's start the chapter real quick here. Read on!**

* * *

 **Chapter 7: On Stage.**

⽯ **Caleb's POV** ⽯

"Come on, tell us a joke like you did before!" The others begged of me.

"Oh, that joke I gave wasnt **that** funny" I protested, and I really thought it wasn't. It was a corny joke that humans told not to be funny, but in an attempt to receive groans from others. However, these pokemon seemed to think that funny, how would they find an actual joke?

I sighed, moving to rub my forehead and ended up looking at my non-versatile paw stupidly. "Most of the decent jokes I know of require prior information about the human world, and generally are put in the middle of an explanation. References. Little tidbits tossed into a conversation for laughs" I explained, trying to convey how hard it would be to tell them a decent joke.

Erza sat back in the chair as she contemplated my reasoning. Finally, she gave a smile that made me lean away. My actions brought laughs from the others, but I was more worried about what idea had just popped into the plant pokemon's head.

"Well, why don't you explain some things?" She asked, and I quickly shook my head. "Not too many of those jokes are even appropriate for audiences in this world. There are a lot about how something can kill you, or whatever. Yes, we can joke about those things. It's not a pleasant-"

I was cut off by Erza. "Yes, we know the human race has some sick jokes. Just tell a joke that isnt" She said with a wave of her arm. Then, she seemed to have a lightbulb moment that scared me a **lot**.

"Audience..." She murmured, looking around at the large amount of pokemon in the cafe. I froze. There was no way. "No." I said. Everyone else at the table looked at me, from Riolu to Sarah.

"No." I said again. Daemyn had his head tilted like a dog and was clearly thinking about it.

"You are not getting me to talk to an entire crowd!" I exclaimed desperate to avoid the situation. I was digging myself into a pit here. Now others were looking at me, from other tables.

Just as I thought somebody was about to drag me to the elevated portion of the room that resembled a stage, the most unlikely of people saved me from that.

"Hi!"

Braixen stood behind Daemyn, and was greeting us. Apparently, whatever punishment she had endured was over. I was immensely relieved, but if I got shrunk down to pocket size again... I would not tolerate it.

Just then, I realized that Erza was no longer in her seat. She was right behind me! I immediately tried to escape, but vines held me in place faster than I could run. "Come on," Erza said cheerfully as she carried me thrashing over to the stagelike structure. "Why don't you tell everyone whatever you want to tell them" She offered.

I gulped. Erza was not about to take no for an answer.

 _What a birthday..._

⽛ **Daemyn's POV** ⽛

I watched Erza take Caleb over to the stage with interest. Who knows what kind of things we were going to learn. He hated it though, considering how much he was thrashing about. Caleb used to be calm and collected, but today had been **very** stressful for him. He was at his limits.

I was conflicted about doing this to him, but if we could get him to joke around, maybe he could lighten up faster. I looked at the others. Jake looked uncertain, and Amber looked at Caleb worriedly. Sarah was looking at Amber instead, looking at the eevee's expression as she looked at Caleb.

 _Oh no... She doesn't really think..._

Amber was an empathetic person, much like Sarah was at times. But the only person that was in love with Caleb was Sarah. I was going to tell her off, but the others had started a conversation with Braixen.

"So... you shrunk Caleb?" I asked eventually. Braixen laughed. "Yes, I tried to shrink **this** bloke" She said, pointing to Shedinja "But I missed because I was moving. Caleb was unable to avoid things 'cause I trapped him in a magic circle, and he got hit with it."

"So... he was..." I chuckled, already knowing the answer.

"Smaller than a dedenne" Braixen said. And then most of us were laughing. The idea of Caleb being the tiniest absol ever was just amazing to think about. Swampert and Charizard had smirks on their faces, and even Absol looked slightly amused.

Braixen looked at Erza and Caleb, the former of which was trying to keep the latter from walking away. "he's not that happy is he?" Braixen asked. She was right; Caleb looked rather annoyed and... scared? Why would he be scared?

"Yep" I replied.

"Hmm..." the magic user hummed as she thought. I knew that magic was very versatile, so I wondered if she had an idea.

"You got a plan?" I asked, and the others at our table leaned in to listen to her as she began whispering.

"...I have been making up a cheering charm, but it's not perfect yet, and I have to practice..." Braixen murmured. A cheering charm, huh?

"Not perfect? Like it doesn't work?" I asked, but Braixen shook her head.

"No, I just have trouble controlling the amount of time it lasts" She replied. I met everyone's eyes, and they seemed to all have some form of consent in their eyes.

"Uh..." Amber mumbled, catching the attention of the rest of us. "It's not... taking over his mind right?" She asked. Braixen shook her head once more.

"No, it just makes them happier" She replied easily. At that, everyone nodded and waited for the braixen to do her job.

Braixen pointed her wand at the struggling Caleb. "Birkeuria nueva" she whispered, the tip of her wand glowing slightly and a tiny green line appeared between the braixen and Caleb.

"And now we wait" Braixen muttered as the line faded away.

⽯ **Caleb's POV** ⽯

I had had enough. I had been laughing before to try and feel better about my day, but now I was just tired. I needed a nap. I needed a shower, and to sleep for ages. "Let go of me" I growled, and Erza faltered. "I am **not** happy. I do not need to-" I tried to finish, but something really weird happened.

I felt... Warm. Deep in my chest, I felt really warm, and... peaceful. What was happening to me? I no longer felt like running, instead... I felt happy. I went to frown, but it was a frown of confusion.

"Erza seemed to see the change, and let me go. I didn't run, though in my mind I reckoned I should. I reappraised the situation. The others wanted me to talk to everyone about things that had to do with the human world. Good things. I would do it.

I stood up, feeling defeated but strangely content about it, and appraised my apparent audience. The first group I saw on the right of the room was a large purple dangerous looking pokemon that was flanked by two quadrupeds, one looking like a grass type with those points on it's neck and the sharp looking leaf on her head. The other was a small elephant-like blue pokemon that had a similar body structure to that donphan I had battled what seemed like ages ago, the day i got to this world.

The next group consisted of a bird that held a stick in it's surprisingly versatile feathers, a raccoon-like pokemon with a slightly tattered looking bandanna on and a mischievous smile on his face. The third was a bug type that Erza seemed to recognize. It was red and looked like a really big ladybug.

A grey pokemon sat with two smaller pokemon that looked similar to it. The former was grey with pink parts on its body. His head looked odd, with a clown nose. He did look strong, and there was a metal 'I' beam leaning on his chair. The two pokemon next to him looked very similar to the first, but much smaller and they had wooden beams they held on to.

Two massive pokemon that really should not have been able to fit through the door stood at a large table with another, ghostlike pokemon on the side and grinning maniacally at me and unnerving me. The first large pokemon was green and black with a blue chest and lots of spikes. It looked really tough. The other was a black and tan furred creature with a half collar of flames.

My savior Goldeneye the delphox sat on the other end of the robe and was keeping an eye on Braixen. She sat next to a pokemon that looked like a larger version of Riolu that had spikes on his chest and paws. However, the middle finger on his right paw was golden. The third one between them was grey and black with a red and black ponytail. he wore a crimson bandanna with a blue crescent moon on it. The third looked younger and wore a smile on his face.

The next table held eight pokemon. Each group of four sat at opposite sides of the table. That is, except for two. A red fox like pokemon with a similar build to an eevee, but was colored mostly red, and a blue quadruped with a large fish tail and fins around its face. The two were bickering, thought the argument was slowing down. Sitting right next to the pokemon that was similar to an eevee was a large lupine pokemon that was colored yellow and had nine tails. The blue quadruped had a white and blue quadruped next to him with a necklace of what looked like ice, and was trying to get the two to stop bickering. Both nine tailed fox and obvious ice type quadruped stayed close to their respective

The other four were a bit more spaced apart. The side with the nine tailed fox were with a giant turtle standing on two legs with cannons coming out of his shell, and a much smaller fox with red fur that had seven tails, with a badge on her center tail. On the side with the blue pokemon, there was a Charizard and a pokemon that looked somewhat like an otter with shells in his possession.

There was a luxray by himself at a small table, patiently waiting for me to start talking. He wore a white bell around his neck that looked something like two shells connected to each other. At the other two small tables nearby the luxray was another pokemon like the one near Goldeneye, though she had no headband and instead wore a white mask with some hairline fractures in it. Instead of a drink sat a purple crystal that was very uniform in shape and had a single white point of light glowing inside of it. And then there was a black furred quadruped with blue rings that also waited patiently for me to begin.

To the side of them sat a gallade, but i could somehow tell that it was a different gallade than before. Kangaskhan had only mentioned seeing a few around, so this must be the gallade that goes by the name Space.

 _An interesting name, and it leads me to wonder what led him to take it as his nickname._

The other gallade, the one that goes by species name, was on the opposite end of the room from the other. That was as far as I got in observing the audience before I realized everyone had gone quiet and was staring at me. Silently. Inwardly, i was freaking out because I hadn't a clue what i was doing.

 _May as well just start. It's make Caleb look like an idiot day anyways. What a holiday to replace fourth of july!_

"Okay..." I began, cursing my awkwardness. "I have to admit, this is the first time i have spoken in front of such a large and diverse crowd and was expected to talk." I admitted. Still the crowd was silent, waiting. I suddenly saw an opportunity.

"Well, i suppose it must be an honor to be speaking with you all today, to meet all of you and have all of you just sort of sit there... staring at me..." I trailed off purposely. The others were quiet for a moment, before I heard a few chuckles and giggles.

"Well" I muttered to myself "things can't get any more awkward can they? It's not like my day's been worth mentioning or anything... Unless you count getting, oh i don't know, told too late what a fake oran berry is and that they exist in the first place, getting hit with the horror that is attract, and being shrunk down by a battle happy braixen to pocket size"

Laughter from any of those who were willing to imagine it. I noted that the one with the mask did not laugh at all. Maybe that should be my goal: Get that girl to laugh. That would certainly be an achievement I sensed.

"Though I have to say, even though being the smallest being around was horrifying enough, I **suppose** that it's decent for sneaking around" I admitted, and let them imagine it for a moment. "Just dont be in a miniscule tunnel when it wears off" I finished, and then the laughter came.

"Now, being small can be both horrifying and useful, but it also brings about some perspective. Who would have thought that three-inch-tall grass could ever be an obstacle?" I asked of the group, who were now laughing at my discomfort. That was fine. That was part of being a comedian.

 _Is that what I am today?_

"But that's not what you are listening for, is it? You want to hear about the human world i suppose?" I asked, knowing the answer already.

Some of the pokemon, particularly the younger ones, sent out a chorus of "YES!" leading me to believe that they were at least somewhat prepared for things. I would just have to remain positive.

"Okay! Let's begin" I said, turning to the wall and preparing myself to work at the wall with my claws as i saw no way to draw. Maybe somebody could fix it later.

⽕ **Sarah's POV** ⽕

"Now, for Uruguay to have to accept money from rich people in other countries like Michael Bloomberg to help pay off legal fees would be pretty humiliating. How humiliating? It's slightly higher that borrowing money from your ex-girlfriend's current boyfriend's **stepdad.** " Caleb said, having scratched a continent into frame and then outlined several places on the map while he talked.

For the most part, it had been strictly informational, but the joke he threw in there made the room erupt in laughter. I Didn't really get it, but I was content to listen to Caleb talk more than anything.

"This is Uruguay" Caleb said, putting his paw on one of the 'countries' within the continent. "With a relatively small population of... Ahem... three and a half **million** people, Uruguay is actually a pretty small market for cigarettes, the topic of discussion at this moment."

He had been talking about a thing that some humans use apparently called a 'cigarette', that was actually known to be bad for their health, which made the pokemon around the room really weirded out that humans would hurt themselves like that.

"Uruguay, a country we think about so little, not even **humans** would realize that this isn't Uruguay; **this** is Uruguay" Caleb said, removing his paw from the wall and moving it over to place it on an even smaller country. After we registered the sudden joke, many pokemon burst into laughter at his trick. Caleb was **good** at it.

"All right. I can see that we're tired of talking about things that are bad for people's health. Let's talk about... No wait, that's also harmful for their health too. How about... No, that's deadly enough..." Caleb murmured seeming to get distracted for a bit. he did a good job scaring the crap out of some of the pokemon who were just realizing that the human world was **filled** with dangerous things.

"...Let's talk about skydiving" Caleb decided turning back to look at us. Then, he glanced at the board while the others gave a few noises of either excitement or confusion. "Er... could somebody repair the wall?" Caleb asked.

"I can" A voice answered him, and we all turned to see a phanpy walking forward. He stamped his foot on the ground, and a slight shock wave travelled out from the phanpy. When the wave reached the wall, the scratches in the wall disappeared. The earth had moved to fill in the gaps.

At Caleb's questioning gaze, the phanpy apparently decided to help him out. "It's earth power. An attack that lets you control the earth" he supplied. Caleb waited for a second before nodding, and got back to the conversation.

"So! Let's talk about skydiving. Interestingly, it is **exactly** as it sounds. Humans have devices that allow them to fly across the world called airplanes. Now, occasionally somebody will take a required class to learn how to safely go skydiving, board a plane, and jump out of the plane at about twelve thousand five hundred feet in the air for sport" he explained.

"Wait!" A voice called from the crowd. "That's high, right? Do they have flying type humans to catch them?"

Caleb chuckled. "Human's don't have types. I guess they would all be the normal type. But we do have things called parachutes that slow their fall. They open them when they get close enough to the ground to avoid going two dimensional against the ground." he said.

His comment about going two dimensional was trying to mask the word death. However, most got the message. Their eyes widened at the words he used and the laughter he issued prior to it. He **had** warned everybody that he had become slightly desensitized by the more common cases of death in his world.

Caleb had started to mutter to the side, and a few of the pokemon with great ears tuned in to hear him. I couldn't properly hear him even when focusing on him. However, Amber seemed to grow more worried, and Daemyn frowned.

"What did he say?" I asked Daemyn, who turned to me. "He said that if somebody wanted another person to die, they could sabotage the parachute so that it doesn't open properly" he explained gravely.

"Moving on, because I can see some of you heard that—sorry, by the way—and let's talk about security. In america, the leading government works a lot differently from any sort of leadership here. Part of that is their ability to spy on people by storing data from across the internet and recording phone calls for up to a month. When a man named Edward Snowden allowed people in the united states to understand that by leaking the information, People could no longer claim ignorance to the idea" Caleb started again.

"Now, considering that the National Security Agency was the branch doing this, It is amazing that Edward Snowden managed to steal and leak information from an organization that **literally has the word security in its name**." Caleb finished, eliciting laughter from everybody as they recognized the irony without really understanding the context.

Caleb continued on, making jokes and giving just enough information to make the joke funny, but not so much that he got into the conversation about wars and whatnot. And it was funny too. Eventually, we got Caleb to reluctantly tell everyone the joke he initially knew was known by humans as a corny joke, but he still had people laughing pretty hard. That cheering charm must have helped a lot.

He started telling us a few human stories. Godzilla was one that scared the kids with the concept of a giant creature destroying cities and toppling skyscrapers. Now, that was what was about to make his next speech so funny.

After explaining the concept of imperialism (And explaining why it shouldn't be done that way in this world for any reason ever), he began to talk about the 'british'.

"It says a lot about the way our country works that i think deep down, deep down society **yearns** for the days of the british empire again!" Caleb said "They long once more to be treated **that** badly, **that** politely."

 _The british were polite as they took over pretty much everything, huh? Or was that a joke?_

"The british were more elegantly destructive; they were like godzilla in a necktie" Caleb continued, having also explained what a necktie was and it's purpose in the human world, which brought about some laughter at the contradiction. "Rampaging their way across africa, like 'excuse me, coming through, coming through... Dreadfully sorry, i seem to have crushed your entire continent's infrastructure! How shockingly impolite... I'm embarrassed, goodness **knows** how you must feel: Caleb finished.

As they laughed at his recent joke, I wondered just how many joked Caleb had stored away. However, he took a deep breath that said he was done. He had joked for a solid thirty minutes between the most amusing bits.

"That's... All the joking I can manage..." Caleb fake wheezed. One more bout of laughter arose before Caleb quieted down. "Does anyone have any questions?"

At one table, a young vulpix piped up. "Mister Caleb, you mentioned holidays a couple of times. What are those?"

Good question. Caleb smiled down at the vulpix. "Holidays are events that occur every year in the human world. When something of meaning takes place in our history, humans have a habit of celebrating that event like they would someone's birthday, and sometimes the holiday has a special addition to it. People do something, or act in a certain way..."

"like what?"

Caleb started to think. "The most prominent holidays in America are likely christmas, easter, the fourth of july, better known as Independence day, and-"

"You mean **today**!?" somebody exclaimed. Caleb hesitantly nodded.

Immediately there was clamoring as people started asking what the humans did on this day. Caleb was watching them, perhaps unsure of what to do, until he finally decided to speak again. "Everyone." his voice wasn't loud, but it still carried, demanding attention as it went, and the group quieted down. "The fourth of July is an american holiday in which the americans declared their independence from Great Britain. It is commonly celebrated through the use of fireworks, interesting little packets of gunpowder that are launched into the air and detonated in fancy colors."

Lots of 'ooh's and 'ahh's came around as the crowd of people absorbed this information.

Caleb looked out at all of them. "In the human world, larger fireworks were considered dangerous because of the things they are made of. In this case, however, I imagine the explosions cannot be bad enough to severely injure anyone due to the high defensive capabilities of the species of pokemon.

Immediately knowing Caleb had approved it for safety here, he got at least a dozen questions about whether he would tell them how to make one, and he nodded, smiling. For the next several minutes, he went over exactly how to make a firework. Soon after, he seemed to decide to excuse himself for the moment.

"I will eventually continue answering questions... In a bit. I never got to drink my pecha/black gummi drink" he said cheerfully and came back to the table.

Daemyn smirked. "hey, good job, man" the mightyena complimented as he finished off his own drink. Caleb gave a smile. "Thank you very much... I am tired though" he replied. Then his smile seemed to fade for a moment.

"I feel... inexplicably happy. I have for the entire last half of an hour..." Caleb commented, clearly thinking something was wrong. The rest of us gulped, and Braixen shrunk a little in the chair she had pulled up to the table. unfortunately for her, Caleb noticed.

"...Wait..." Caleb muttered, staring at the braixen, and he had clearly figured it out. He was just so smart like that.

 _Get her, Caleb!_

Caleb frowned, though it was like he was fighting something that was putting a smile on his face. He concentrated, and Braixen recoiled as she sensed something. At this proximity to Caleb, I could feel the magic in his mind, but it was slowly breaking down under his sheer willpower.

"Impossible..." Braixen murmured, leaning forward now "You can't just fight magic wih your mind" She murmured, too quiet for Caleb to hear. I saw Goldeneye come to investigate, and seeing her frown as she saw what was happening as well.

"Hmmm..." She hummed as she appraised the situation. She looked between the freaked out braixen and the struggling absol. Then, Absol, Goldeneye, Braixen, and I all felt the spell promptly **shatter** in his mind. He gasped at the effort it had taken, but he had done it.

Caleb looked right at Braixen, a slightly cross look on his face. "You enchanted me **again**?" he asked calmly but forcefully. Braixen quailed as she realized that Caleb was **far** too smart to be duped like that.

However, seeing him happy had made the rest of us happy. Should i do it? Should i contradict Caleb?

 _No. I won't do it. I can't. I couldn't ever make myself do that._

"Uh..." Braixen stammered, but Erza decided to intervene.

"How else did you think we were going to help feel a bit better? Your day was so astonishingly bad we **needed** a cheering charm to get you back on your feet. Plus, you were being uncharacteristically difficult" Erza reasoned. Caleb seemed to think about her words for a while. He visibly calmed down, and then nodded.

"While I do not appreciate having my mind affected by anything, and certainly not after discovering what attract does, I do admit that I was acting rash. Such a thing is inexcusable and I a-"

 **BANG!**

Caleb's head hit the table courtesy of Erza's flail. "Were you about to say 'apologize'?" Erza asked sweetly. Caleb quickly shut his mouth. I did feel like burning Erza for her attack, but Caleb did apologize a bit too much. Not like i would say it aloud though.

"Good. Apologize less, fix problems more" Erza commanded as she reached a vine over to pick up her glass from the other end of the table and bring it back to her. She took a large swg of the green liquid before setting it down.

"It's actually getting pretty late, so you should probably drink up and settle down before you go mad thinking things through in a loop like you do" Erza suggested, and Daemyn nodded as well. There were some chuckles at the situation Caleb was in from the others in the area, and I fixed them with a glare. I don't actually know the move because absol can't learn it, but I hoped a regular glare would suffice.

Caleb slowly drank his pecha and black gummi mix without a word, as if trying to comprehend just what his day included. A new, surprise birthday, a torturous day, and then being coerced into joking around in front of a crowd with the use of a cheering charm.

Considering Caleb is not the biggest fan of attention, i would say that he considered this to be a rough day.

Eventually, Caleb rejoined the conversation that was growing between his friends. "So, Riolu," Caleb began, drawing the fighting type's attention "I have not gotten the pleasure of meeting you properly."

"Oh, yeah!" Riolu exclaimed cheerfully "I was looking for Jake 'cause I wanted to learn more about my ability!" he exclaimed. Unfortunately, this just made me have more questions. I turned to Jake for guidance just as Caleb did.

"Well..." Jake said, sounding similarly confused "As far as I was able to tell, he seems to have a similar ability to mine, or at least that's what he said."

Caleb turned to the riolu, who was grinning. He couldn't be more than a kid, and he failed to give any straight answers. I did not think that it was the same issue as the frustratingly vague Absol. Instead, it was the way a kid gets too excited to actually be helpful.

"You are also capable of the dimensional scream?" Caleb asked of Riolu, who scratched the back of his head.

"Well, that's what Jake called it. I haven't seen him use it though" Riolu answered a bit more calmly. Just a bit. Caleb nodded and looked at Jake. "I assume Riolu here wants to learn how to use his ability properly?" he asked.

"Yeah" Jake confirmed I'm not sure where he's going to live though."

"Oh yeah!" I forgot to ask!" Riolu exclaimed, Jumping up from his seat and putting his paws on the table in front of him. "I was told that it would be best for me to join your team! So can i?" he asked out of the blue.

Jake blinked in a manner that would tell others that he often talks to Caleb. He obviously had never been asked if someone could join his team. "Uh... Sure?" he said uncertainly. Caleb looked slightly disapproving. "Jake-" Caleb started, but Riolu was already celebrating.

"Awesome! Thank you!" Riolu cheered, fisting the air in excitement. Caleb and Jake exchanged looks.

"I believe I should be present when the two of you have a discussion on this shared ability of yours" Caleb noted. Jake and Riolu looked at him, and Jake nodded in response. Riolu seemed to be confused about his wanting to intervene, but I spoke up.

"Don't worry. If anybody can figure something out, it's Caleb" I supplied "He can help you out a lot." Everyone looked at me, and then to Riolu. Far from worried, Riolu gave an excited nod. That was when Absol put his advice in.

"Tomorrow we will continue training in the tiny meadow" he explained "Caleb, you will join Jake's team in understanding the abilities of this riolu after I have taught you to properly use slash and begin our work on learning a technique known as psycho cut."

"Psycho cut." Caleb repeated in a monotone voice. Absol nodded. "Psychic attacks have absolutely no effect on us. However, absol are capable of using this psychic technique on our own. It is a high level technique, and acts just like your night slash does." he explained.

Caleb just nodded, having absorbed the information with relative ease. It was impressive how he was keeping his cool. I know he was losing it before after his horrid day, but even after having his head messed with more than once today, anybody would start to go a little nuts.

Everyone's drinks finished, we wondered how we were going to spend the time before we had to go to the guild. Many pokemon came to talk to Caleb while I was trying to talk to him. He was answering their questions and ignoring me completely. That was fine. Eventually, that would stop. Eventually, Caleb would figure out who was standing next to him.

 _And now that he's above eighteen..._

Caleb would likely demand an explanation of the implications of coming of age when we went to our room. I would tell him, of course. I would tell him about the increased ability to smell and hear and a gut understanding of pokemon gender with a mere look, and of course I would tell him about that fact that he would be more susceptible to... emotional connections with others.

I had spent a long time trying to keep him in this world, and maybe that was wrong, but now I really did have a chance of getting to Caleb, and maybe we could be happy together.

 _Maybe that's wrong too, but I don't care._

"Don't leave that door open too long! You'll let the cold in!" Somebody shouted in the room. Caleb turned his attention to them. "Something most people don't know is that according to the first law of thermodynamics, heat leaves the system rather than the cold coming in" He informed the farfetched.

After they had a quick conversation, I looked about to see who was looking at Caleb with something a bit close to my own comfort zone. I had thought Amber was starting to feel affection for him, but after some more conversation with the group it was clear that she was clear. Some other girls were keeping an eye on them, something I did **not** like.

 _Caleb's_ _ **mine**_ _, fools!_

I went and tried to prove it by getting near Caleb, who was at a table and speaking with the vaporeon and flareon. "hey, you" I said sweetly, nuzzling the guy for a second before...

 **THUNK!**

Caleb had put his paw on my head and slammed my face into the table. "Don't mind her" Caleb said smoothly to the others while holding me down "She seems to think that there is any chance **at all** of us being together. I have no connection to anyone."

With my absol sense, I caught them looking between me and Caleb and then nodding reluctantly. Caleb nodded his own head. "It has been a pleasure to meet you, Blutarch and Redmond" he finished, having finished the conversation. He let go of me and walked away.

I quickly followed him, and he suddenly asked a question. "How many of these 'evolutions' is an eevee capable of?" he asked me. I thought about it, able to think of five that i knew, but there were probably more.

"At least five, probably more" I responded. Caleb's eyes widened slightly and he shook his head. "You will have to explain the meaning of that word as pokemon understand it" he commented before walking ahead to speak to more pokemon in the room. He seemed to understand that the others wanted to know more with their individual questions.

* * *

⽯ **Caleb's POV** ⽯

"Ah, Goldeneye" I greeted five minutes later as he reached the table with the three pokemon. The pokemon that seemed to be an 'evolved' form of a riolu stood up and came to greet me. The fact that i **still** haven't learned the apparent new meaning of the word was troubling for me. Why haven't I asked anybody yet?

 _I suppose I did pretty much promise Sarah that i would ask her. I cannot fully ignore her, even if she has me on edge at all times_

"Hello, Caleb" the pokemon said, a no-nonsense tone in his voice "It is a pleasure to meet you."

The fighting type reached a paw down to me, considering I was half his height. He was hoping for a handshake, but I was an absol now. I eventually put my paw against his own, more versatile paw and he pretty much did the handshake for me.

"I suppose a pawshake is not a typical greeting on your human world?" he asked me. I shook my head slowly. "No, a handshake greeting is relatively common, but as a human my hands were far more versatile. This..." I replied, looking at my paw "This paw is little more than a pad with claws sticking out of it. Not the easiest to shake paws with."

The fighting type nodded in understanding. "I see. Quite an interesting display of yours up on stage" he commented I'm told that you were hit with a cheering charm, but you did bring about some really good jokes in the process."

"Thank you" I thanked the now smiling fighting type "Now, i never did get your name" I added.

"Ah, of course" the fighting type responded "how rude of me. I am a lucario, but I am known as Goldfinger" he answered, showing the gold colored fur on one of his fingers. while that made sense, it still would lead to an awkward conversation.

 _Goldeneye... Goldfinger... Who's the third? I bet his name follows a similar path..._

Goldfinger raised a brow. "You seem surprised at my name" he commented. I nodded slightly.

"Let us say it is an... interesting coincidence" I supplied, and looked towards the third. "I might want to take a guess at your name. If this trend continues... I could guess either Specter or Skyfall"

This greatly stunned the formerly stoic and professional older pokemon, while the third was frankly astonished. "How did you know that?!" the pokemon asked loudly. I sighed. "If you are wondering, i am not capable of discerning a name from the names of their companions. That would require luck. No, there is simply a group of three... not people, but... This is difficult to explain" I explained.

"I could try a memory revealing circle, but that is incredibly complicated" Goldeneye offered out of the blue. Did magic have something for everything?

"I suppose that would be easier than explaining the situation out loud. Perhaps we can discuss this another time. I do wish to meet the others in this room before my team and I must depart to the guild. It has been a pleasure meeting all of you" I replied, ending the conversation save for a few astonished goodbyes. Then, i realized that I forgot something.

"I apologize, i never actually learned which of those was your name" I noted, turning around. The dark type rubbed his head with a claw. "It's Skyfall" he replied "I'm a zoroark."

I said goodbye to Skyfall the zoroark and continued on through the room. They were an interesting group. The team leader badge on the lucario had read 'team destiny bond', which also **had** to be a huge coincidence that the word 'bond' was involved. Goldeneye, Goldfinger, and Skyfall. the former two had reason to be given those nicknames, so I supposed that Skyfall would be a similar case.

But i now knew the species name of the pokemon i was now approaching. Her mask did little to deter me, though others in the room seemed to recoil when she looked at them. "Hello," I greeted the zoroark and distracted her from what she was doing, which was looking into her little purple crystal. She looked up at me, and I could see her eyes flickering colors as she did. They had seemed half red and half purple as she looked into the crystal, and their normal color when she looked away.

"What do you want?" the zoroark almost snarled at me. I raised an eyebrow.

"I have simply been travelling across the room and meeting some of those that took the time to listen to me" I explained calmly. She did seem hostile, and I wondered if that crystal had anything to do with it.

"Well, do that somewhere else, then" She snarled decisively. I quickly excused myself and left her alone. I looked back and my eye caught the crystal. Looking directly into it was a big mistake, because my vision was enveloped in darkness for an instant and i could see a single pair of reptilian shaped, glowing purple eyes and heard a growl.

I broke contact immediately. I did not want to know what was in that crystal, but I already knew it was not the same as the darkness that had taken me over. The shadows felt... calmer. Even accompanied by a growl.

"What a-" Sarah started to say, but I shushed her. "Many people have their reasons for being aggressive. If she would prefer to keep those reasons at a personal level, we should respect that" I counseled Sarah.

I did not wait for a reply, fearing i had hurt the sensitive absol. It was just so difficult to keep her in check. I did not want to hurt her, but my anger increased with each rash and nonsensical advance she made, and i continuously tell her to leave me alone or something similar.

The next person i met was at an adjacent table. He had black fur with glowing blue rings and entirely black eyes, but the whites of his eyes were yellow instead. I heard Sarah gasp behind me. The pokemon immediately zeroed in on her.

I looked between the two pokemon. Did they know each other? Sarah was wide eyed. "i thought that umbreon had yellow rings?" she said, and I understood. Here was a pokemon that was like Sarah. He was different. The umbreon nodded. "I believed that absol were supposed to be black and white" he commented in return.

The umbreon was someone I felt I could be friends with. He acted in a way I would act, and was certainly trying to contain the incredible excitement in his eyes. He obviously thought he had found a friend in someone who was also different.

 _Good for the both of you. Make friends with each other for a bit. I can talk to the luxray for a while._

Sarah distracted for the first time in a long time by anybody other than me, I made my way to the luxray. "Good evening" I greeted him. He looked at me startled, like he hadn't seen me coming. "Cripes! Where'd you come from?" he asked

"The table with the umbreon" I replied easily. I looked the luxray over. He had a slightly different body structure, nearly feminine, and a shorter mane than the luxray we had battled in chargestone cave. That one had taken us all out easily. I contemplated whether it would be the same case with this one.

"Huh. Alger? The blue ringed umbreon?" the luxray asked. The umbreon was known as Alger then. I wondered if these two were acquaintances. At least this guy knew Alger's name.

"Yes. That is Sarah talking to him. I believe that he is the first other pokemon she has met with interesting colors" I replied, and then looked him in the eye. "What do you go by?" i inquired.

"Most call me Gauge. I'm a luxray" he answered, knowing my lack of knowledge about the pokemon world but not the fact that i had met a luxray already.

There were a few moments of silence because I had little to say. There were few things that I had to specifically talk to him about. "At any rate, I am glad to make your acquaintance" I offered. He hesitated for a moment before nodding slightly. "Yeah. Great to meet you..." he said, trailing off. We had little in common and little to talk about. for that reason, I decided to leave.

I walked back to the umbreon, who was wrapping up his discussion with Sarah. Unfortunately, Sarah did not seem to switch emotional preference from me to him, like how she so quickly attached to me, but would I really do that to the poor guy? No, no I would not. Sarah was impossible, but i should not set her on somebody else for my own sake. That would just be horrible.

I then moved on to speak with the gallade that did not have that odd bit of jewelry, whose name was apparently Space. "Space, is it?" i asked promptly, reaching the table. the gallade looked at me calmly. "Yes, my nickname is Space" he replied.

Space and I started a discussion. Apparently the first person to call him Space had been his instructor at a library, a rare thing in itself apparently. That made me sad; that libraries were not common. "I would like to see this library someday" I commented "It has been far too long since I have read a book."

 _At least a book that I did not write myself in the dream world._

"Really? I found the job rather boring." Space admitted "I wanted a bit more action as a ralts, so when I evolved into a kirlia, I saved money for an everstone and began my travels in the hopes of finding a dawn stone."

 _Dawn stone?_

"Dawn stone?"

"An evolutionary stone" Space replied simply. Now there was another piece of the puzzle, although I had yet to place it. "Pokemon need these stones to 'evolve' then, yes?" i asked.

Space gave a shrug. "Some do. Others simply need to grow a bit. There are a few places around the world that pokemon can evolve early in, including the luminous spring. However, that is simply an early way to evolve despite needing to grow a bit anyways. Normally, pokemon have to grow a lot more and be a certain age before they naturally evolve" the gallade explained.

That was interesting. I was saving the main question of what evolving was for Sarah, mostly because ignoring her completely may be bad for her. She was a hopeless lovestruck absol, but she was my teammate, and I had to treat her as such.

 _I should not think of her like that. I should consider her my teammate, but ignore her advances and not think less of her. She clearly became so attached to me, being so lonely in her old home. Her actions seem almost like a gross overreaction, but I can only assume that here such an attachment makes sense._

Come to think of it, I imagine that in the case of humans many would suffer from depression rather than loneliness in such a situation, and I did understand that pokemon had a similar psychology to humans.

But then I remembered her rare ability as an absol; what can only be described as a curse. She apparently becomes an emotional wreck whenever she finds herself hearing a dying heartbeat. Such emotional trauma may change her response to isolation, or at least prolong the initial reaction.

 _But for something this intense as what she goes through nowadays? Her love is ridiculously strong for me._

I was overthinking it. I knew it. I had no intention of hurting her. That was all i needed to know, and all I should focus on.

"So this library, is it extensive?" I asked the gallade. He nodded. "It's the biggest library in the world. There are about... two hundred books in there."

"Two hundred." I repeated.

"Can you believe it?" he asked, misinterpreting my tone. How would I break it to him that two hundred was a pretty small amount?

 _The only way to do it..._

"Many libraries in the human world are... well, they are packed with books. A small library may contain three hundred at the minimum, at least for the ones I have seen or visited. Many libraries are extensive enough to contain thousands of books" I said.

 _...Is bluntly._

Space looked startled. He said nothing for a moment while he seemed to collect himself. I let him think on a response while I tried to figure out who I had not visited yet. Gallade had yet to see me since my little show, and he seemed to think we could be proper acquaintances. Something seemed off, but I dismissed it.

"Well..." Space coughed "Thats certainly... Enlightening."

"I apologize" I replied immediately "I found no other option in the way of breaking that to you."

"At any rate," Space began, changing his tone to that that sounded something like an army general "Have you anything to ask me, feel free to do so. When we go to battle against others and each other, we must be prepared for anything. Good luck, Caleb"

"You as well." I replied with finality as Space went back to what he was doing. I travelled across the room, intending to talk to Gallade. However, he was nowhere in sight now. I looked about, thinking he had moved, but he was just gone.

Instead, I found myself being called over to the larger table with Blutarch, Redmund, and their mates as well as their other teammates. I supposed I had not been properly acquainted with the others of their team, so I went back willingly.

"Hello again" i greeted the group. Most of them smiled at me, likely understanding my attitude better. The thing they probably had not understood was my change of thought process when Sarah had the not-so-brilliant idea to **touch** me. But surprisingly, they had already let it go.

"Hi!" the glaceon, Shino, greeted me with excitement. I saw now that her necklace looked like a snowflake. She had a sword of ice on her back, something that definitely did not go with her attitude. That smiling face that would make a human pick her up and cuddle her like a puppy.

So i looked deeper. Her eyes showed something different. Her childish smile and tilt of the head as she spoke did not fully reach her eyes. The did a little bit yes, but i was not deceived. She looked utterly serious. I saw eyes like that whenever I looked in a mirror.

All that I got from the fact that such an apparently carefree pokemon was carrying a sword made of ice.

 _Actually, not all ice..._

It looked like ice, and in fact it was mostly ice, but it had a strange quality to it. The outer layer looked like transparent white and blue, the same design as her necklace, which was a non transparent version of it.

I wondered what metal it was. It clearly froze things around it, but it was not just ice. There was something about it. It was certainly odd. A cold aura emanated from it.

The serious glaceon kept up her cheerful act. Perhaps she would do so until the competition started. It would certainly surprise others when she attacked. If I was to be on the receiving end of her attacks, i promised myself I would be prepared.

I got another "Hi!" from the other side of the table, where the small seven tailed fox had popped up and put her paws on the table to gain some height and make eye contact with me.

"Hello there" I replied calmly. Little kids are always nice to be around; the don't judge. Frankly, it's easier to talk to a kid with a powerful mind about your issues than any adult. I noted how close the little orange fox was to the larger nine-tailed fox. Perhaps they were mother and daughter or something like that. Those two and Redmond were quite close together. The giant blue turtle was separate from the others, though he bore a team member badge.

"I do not believe I learned all of your names before I so rudely departed" I went on "I must apologize for that."

"There is no need to be sorry" the nine-tailed fox assured me, looking confident. I looked into her eyes as well. Unlike the glaceon, she seemed firm and unwavering. There were no secrets in those eyes. When she said I did not need to worry about being sorry, she meant it.

"I am Vulnona, a ninetales" the fox went on, giving me her name and species "You have spoken with my mate, Redmond, and this is my daughter, a vulpix. Her name is Kemuri."

"...It is very nice to meet you, Vulona and Kemuri" I nodded, looking towards the last on their team. "And who is this?"

"The name's Gunner an' I'm a blastoise" the blue turtle said. The name made perfect sense actually. He looked like a water type, and those cannons looked painful. 'Gunner' was the perfect name for somebody with built in cannons.

I nodded to the blastoise as I looked into his eyes next. He looked right back at me, and those eyes held very little respect for me. In fact, it was a glare of sorts. I sensed that if I wanted anything other than that glare, I needed to work for it.

There was little in the way for making conversation. I turned instead to the vaporeon and his team. "And you all?" i asked. Blutarch looked to his teammates in a silent message of permission. His professional gaze was understanding, and I found myself once more looking at someone I could have an intellectual discussion with, just like the ninetales. The remaining of his team, team Honor, began to introduce themselves.

The charizard was apparently nicknamed Glurak. An interesting name, but I assumed it would go by without others so much as blinking in this world. Unlike Charizard from amber's team, this one was very observant and took plenty of time to plan out his words.

The other was apparently a dewott. Gunjin also wore a sword on his back and had two sharp looking seashells attached to his legs. Multiple weapons. He spoke with authority, and he gave off the appearance of someone who was very tough despite his size.

Neither of the two had much to say to me. Now it seemed to be question time for me.

"Is this skydiving thing fun?" Kemuri asked curiously. I thought on it. I had never done it myself, but I did have it explained to me by someone who had.

"Skydiving is certainly a rush" I started "you are falling several thousand feet to the ground with one parachute to save you from danger. It is dangerous with only that, because if something is wrong with the parachute, you could plummet to your... nevermind."

That last word was spoken quickly and quietly. The kid didn't understand, thankfully, but Vulnona and Redmond understood. I continued before Kemuri got any crazy ideas. "The point is: skydiving is very, very dangerous, and most of those who do it are thrill seekers. Every time you go, they make you take a lesson on how to properly do it and practically slam it into your mind to minimize risk. However, that risk still exists. If a mistake is made, or the parachute is faulty or in rare cases was..." I trailed off.

They waited for me to finish the sentence, but I stopped cold at that. Not in front of the kid. I would not speak of murder attempts around the kid. I begged the group with my eyes **not** to push me and make me talk. Someone like Kemuri was not old enough to be hearing stuff like that.

 _To be frank, no pokemon is old enough to hear about these things. With murder and otherwise premature death practically nonexistent here, anyone would throw up at the thought if I did not use my words carefully. If pokemon even throw up._

If humans had the capabilities of a pokemon, wars would either be far more severe, or less common, or both. The former, probably, knowing the human race and our ability to fight over basically anything. If I were to go and talk about the average amount of murders a week in my world, there would be a serious uproar and plenty of traumatized pokemon, no matter what age they were.

No, wars would just become more flashy, more dangerous, and perhaps with a slight delay on nuclear weapons.

 _Plus one, minus whatever that death count was for every war ever._

Nobody knew that kind of number. Some wars just went undocumented, and at some point death counts get rounded a bit because the exact number is simply lost in the storm of people running right into their deaths in the middle of battle.

 _At any rate..._

"Are you going to finish that sentence?" Gunner asked, voicing the thoughts of the others. I shook my head, and the blastoise sighed.

"No, I will not. What I was about to say was quite a... heavy topic. Something that would give you nightmares to be honest, considering how little it happens in this world, if there has even been a single case of it." I explained.

The others were thinking about it. That was unfortunate, because if they reached the correct conclusion, I would not make myself contradict the truth. I wanted to change the topic and fast.

"There are always other, safer things to do" I started, trying desparately to name a few. There were not so many that I personally enjoyed, but I could still talk about them.  
"I'll probably elaborate more some other time, because I assume somebody will force me onto the stage tomorrow if today was any trend setter. But there are many games that humans can play, or competitions."

That caught the attention of the vulpix, and the gleeful looking attention of the very serious glaceon. THe others showed interest as well, but I could tell not every one of them had fully dropped the topic. Shino in particular was actually studying me closely, looking for any slip.

"There are several sports that humans play, primarily sports that require a human's structure to play properly, though I admit some leniency may be included as long as nobody with claws pops the ball. There is baseball, a complicated game involving many different types of positions on defence, and the goal is to strike the ball thrown at you and take one of three positions before that ball is returned. There is basketball, a more simple game that requires a larger ball to be thrown in a hoop with different point values based on the position of the thrower." I began, and everyone started listening to me across the room as I recounted different games to play.

There was football, and then soccer, which was actually supposed to be called football because that was it's original name, and then I got into the more interesting games. Laser tag in particular seemed very exciting to the others.

It occurred to me that I had been extremely random and incompetent in my explanations for everything. Despite my cut off explanations because i wanted to avoid talking about death and murder and whatnot. However, they hung on to every word as if i was reading out a well rehearsed essay on an exciting topic. I guess otherworldly things sounded amazing to them as a concept.

Kemuri wanted to know everything about everything, and most of the others in the room were only slightly less interested. It was apparent I would have to get on stage once more. I asked the crowd in general if there was time to continue, and somebody darted out to check immediately.

 _I am not a celebrity. I do not want to be a celebrity. I just want to relax with some quiet. That is not going to happen. For that reason, I will simply have to try and play down any popularity I get._

If that had even the slightest chance of working, which I took the time to admit to myself that no, it would not work, I would go ahead and try. This time however, I would not be under the influence of another blasted mind altering trick.

So my second stage time began as the little unidentified pokemon cheerfully replied that there was plenty of daylight left before the guild members had to leave. Braixen looked like she was considering something, even from the distance i was at. I gave her my best " _kill you dead"_ glare, causing her to freeze with her paws halfway to the wand stuck in her tail.

That solved, I turned my attention slowly to the crowd. There were even more of them. Not so shockingly, they were all completely focused on me. Even the fidgety ones couldn't look away. I noted that the younger kids had stationed themselves up front like a proper audience for a show that kids would like.

 _And the only thing I have to avoid are the negatives… Fun times._

"All right. I seem to have everyone's attention," I started, before noticing an apparently sleeping zoroark with a mask and gripping her purple crystal. "Mostly. That one is sleeping" I finished, pointing with a paw towards the rude zoroark.

"She thought we wouldn't notice…" I continued, putting my paw back down, "...But we did."

There was a lot of laughter at that as most eyes turned to the napping zoroark and back to me. The noise woke her up for a moment, which I could tell because of the momentary shift, but she went back to sleep in no time at all. She hadn't even looked up.

"It appears to me that you all want to learn what kinds of games and activities humans have" I commented. While it looked like I was warming up for more jokes, I was actually panicking and trying to figure out what to say. Not like I would let them in on that however.

 _I hate being on stage. Hate it. Maybe that cheering charm was a good idea._

After listening to the chorus of approval about it, I finally set my plan into place. I was supposed to be smart and professional, but my mind seemed to be going rather slow today. "Then we shall begin." i stated, moving to the back wall where I had been scratching images before. The same phanpy had taken a position near his companions, a large purple pokemon that was apparently a drapion, and a bayleef. He seemed to be willing to help by clearing the wall when I needed to clear it. His technique, apparently called earth power, was shockingly like earthbending from that animated series. The last airbender, I remembered.

"There are many activities humans consider fun or exciting," I went on, scratching a chart into the wall. "Many of which fall under the category of 'sports'."

As I worked on my chart, I made sure to change positions to make certain the audience could see what I was doing at different times. "There are all sorts of activities labelled sports, many typically involving competition of some sort. Races. Team sports. Many different types of activities fall under this category, such as baseball and football. I will get to those games in a moment." I continued, walking away from my chart of different shapes and scratched a key next to it for each game.

"First thing to understand: Many of these sports are built for people with a human form, with the way we do things. Baseball, for example, requires one to grip and use a baseball bat, a metal, ah, stick of sorts that is used to strike a ball that has been thrown by a pitcher. That ball must be recovered by players in the field to try and get the batter 'out'. The game is quite complicated with it's systems, and I can explain that later."

"But for now, we shall move on to a general explanation of team sports," I continued, tapping several symbols on the key. "There are two sports labelled football, though those who play the one most know of call the second one 'soccer'. Football is a game that has quite a few rules, many of which I am uncertain of. However, like most games that involve a ball, the goal is to get the ball to the end of the field, in this case an entire area."

"Where as I cannot explain football thoroughly, soccer is another story. Much more basic than football, the idea is to get a ball into a goal on either side of the field. You protect your goal and try to get the ball into the other. You are not allowed to carry a soccer ball, you have to kick it or headbutt it around. This game actually seems manageable, assuming we were to have a ball that could actually withstand our strikes. I believe a soccer game in this world should have a much bigger field, with slightly wider goals, and less restrictions on others being harmed. What I mean by that is that intentionally hurting others in the game results in a foul and a penalty. Rules are not, in fact, made to be broken"

 _I am not joking around much this time. This is purely educational._

"I would assist in the making of such a field and help set it up, but I currently spend a lot of time with necessary and helpful training. Perhaps when there is some free time, I can explain the workings. I would certainly need to work out what I would change to make it more suitable for this world and its diverse inhabitants" I went on, and turned as I heard many sounds of excitement.

 _These people really like the idea of having a new game to play, even if I can't do it immediately. It appears that this may be the norm for quite a while._

"A new game!"

"Awesome!"

The kids who said that looked pretty young, even compared to the others. Many of the kids were in the ten to fifteen year range.

 _How the heck do I know that? There's no way I should be able to know that on sight!_

Perhaps I would never know why i seemed to have the new ability to recognize age and gender on sight now. It would have been even weirder if I had the ability to understand species as well. Just having a birthday was enough to mess with my mind. That was actually horrifying to me, despite its usefulness.

"There are also games like basketball, known by that title due to the fact that it requires a player to throw a ball into an open ring elevated into the air. This, like football, has several rules that would take time to explain. Most pokemon would have difficulty playing it as well." I explained, continuing my sports rant. At least soccer was an available game for pokemon…

Hockey and other ice related sports I am not certain about, having never played them myself." I admitted "For hockey at least, one puts on a pair of ice skates—a type of shoe that allows easier movement on ice—and grabs a hockey stick, which is mostly straight and has a flat base for hitting a puck, which is a short cylindrical item that slides on the ice. The field itself is similar to a soccer field, with two small goals for the puck. Why this would be difficult is the necessity for the hockey stick and a way to easily traverse across ice for all players."

At this point, questions began to come up, so i started answering them.

"You play all of these games?" one curious pokemon asked.

"I have played most of these games" I began to explain, but before I could continue, another question shot out from the crowd.

"Which one's your favorite?" an excited little bear looking pokemon asked. He had quite a bit of mucus dripping from his nose, but I ignored this.

"That is a difficult question…" I mused, looking at the little list I had made. What sport did I enjoy playing? I never really stuck to one. "I have played each game, save hockey and football. I never liked the idea of playing the more physically… abusive games. Baseball is a complicated game, but I was decent at it until it grew too competitive for me. But I have to say that there was no particular favorite for me. There were games that I was good at and games that I was not so. And, of course, games i do not prefer to play"

"What else can we play!?" an extremely excited little cat pokemon with large ears exclaimed. She was very, very young, and had a star at the tip of her tail. She looked absolutely thrilled to be there.

"Hmm…" I hummed as I considered the question. "For most of these games, serious adaptations would have to be made to be playable by most or all different species of pokemon. I imagine that the ball would have to be far more durable and perhaps different sizes depending on the players. Soccer would work pretty well i believe, but most other sports would be very difficult to pull off. What i reckon is that it would be easier to actually make a few new games and such. I have ideas already"

Well, that last bit got the kids even more excited. Heck, even the adults began clamoring.

"I must refine these concepts" i firmly stated, starting to scratch more things into the wall. I still had room to 'write'.

Over the next hour or so, i spoke of many activities for humans, not omitting skydiving. I did mention which were dangerous, which were things that were not supposed to be in practice. After sports was a discussion so well done i had pretty much educated those in the room on each sport and their rules, i moved onto a topic i liked a bit more.

"Steamroller, could you please clear the wall?" I asked of the phanpy, having learned his name somewhere at the thirty minute mark. it was a fitting name for a being that could roll into a ball and run people over like a small blue tire.

Steamroller complied, stamping his foot on the ground. The earth responded with a slight rumble, and Steamroller slid that foot about an inch to the left. Immediately, the wall smoothed out as the scratches filled themselves up.

I marvelled at the technique. It was precisely like that technique from one of those cartoons. Earthbending, the ability was called in that show. Fictional. But here was earth power, basically the same thing.

"We will be moving on from these activities to one last thing" I muttered, eliciting a collective "awww…" from several in the crowd. For some reason, the large amount of attention i was getting was not making me twitchy and lose track of my thoughts. Maybe i was actually starting to enjoy the topics.

Teaching was fun, i found. Talking about my absolute favorite game was certainly going to be fun.

I scratched a square into the wall, doing my best to make it as big as possible. My less than versatile legs were a problem, but I forced myself past them. After that square was finished, i cut that image into several small squares in an eight by eight graph of sorts.

The others all had their eyes fixed on either me or what i was writing. "This game is easily my favorite game" I said, turning the sounds of near despair into silence as people grew far more invested instantly.

The graph turned into a game board as I drew symbols into the stone surface. An intricate crown. A crown with a cross on it. Two bishop hats. Two of the letter 'k'. two towers, and eight basic circles because I had no idea how to demonstrate that piece with a symbol.

"This… is chess" I dramatically revealed as I looked at my work. Using my absol sense, I detected that the others were staring at the thing with obvious confusion. Why was I being dramatic? My mind was probably being affected by several factors, including magic

"Chess is not a sport or physical activity at all, but it is still a game." I explained "A board game to be precise. Each piece can be moved, one at a time, until, according to the rules of each board game, one player is the victor"

"Chess is a turned based game that forces the players to use logic, strategy, and brains to outsmart the opponent one move at a time." I continued. There was a lot of confusion in the crowd. This was my favorite game? That apparently did not involve any physical activity whatsoever but to move a piece occasionally?

"I prefer this game to others because it is a mental exercise for me, and there is absolutely no luck involved whatsoever" I explained.

Goldeneye and some others did seem interested. I was glad that some people could appreciate games that require the mind rather than the body. I went on to explain how to play the game.

Goldeneye in particular seemed rather interested in playing the game. There were some other psychic types that wanted to have a go. "Most psychic types require mental training to improve their capabilities" the delphox explained to me.

After some discussion and an idea on my part, Steamroller did more of his earth power/earthbending trick to make the board appear on the floor. "Each side has a different color, usually white and black," I explained "This means that I must change one side slightly…"

I scratched a single line through the symbols on my side. Steamroller made the board on the wall show my changes.

"Steamroller, was it?" Goldeneye asked, mismatched eyes still on the board. After catching his nod, she brought out that wand of hers.

"Would you sustain your earth power for just a moment on both boards?" she requested. Steamroller and I both seemed to be confused, but he complied for just a moment. She quickly waved her wand first at Steamroller, then each board in turn. After she was done, she turned her attention to me.

"This should make the board on the wall copy this one" she explained "And after learning what you have told us of the movements of the pieces, I have tried to enchant the images to move as well."

 _...What? Was it really so easy for her to do something like that? I get that she is basically a master of magic, but that… that was so specific and unique that I find it hard to believe that she just did it on the fly… but she did. That is beyond impressive._

"Very impressive." I complimented, before looking at the board. "I have given you the first move."

She made her first move. Her move had consisted of her tapping a pawn symbol and then tapping it's next location. The amazing thing was that it worked perfectly. Such a convenient thing, magic. If magic was a thing in our world… I focused on her move and saw what it was. If she moved one more piece in one more way…

I tapped my pawn and then tapped another point. It disappeared and reappeared in the ground in its new spot.

Goldeneye was experimenting. She had not seen the problem with her next move; the reason she was about to lose.

"Checkmate."

There were several blinks and a stare as the game ended. "I mean no offence, but that finish is actually known as a fool's mate. Checkmate in two moves. If white moves those two pawns like that, I can easily checkmate you" I explained.

Nobody wanted to play chess with me after that. Maybe later. Goldeneye was thankfully not frustrated with her defeat, instead she accepted it and promised that it would not happen again. I got the feeling that at least one person would play chess with me again.

I rather sleepily made my way back to the table with my team and friends. I allowed myself to sit down and reflect. My day had been really bad, and I was definitely feeling the result of trauma, but these people had brought me back up with ease. It was odd.

 _Today, I was turned into a brain dead moron, forced to fall in love with an egotistical bellossom, and shrunk down to pocket sized by a budding magic user. I can't look at Braixen without remembering that last one, and I will never forget the torment I felt after the attract incident. It was all horrible, and then Erza basically forced me on stage… I just… talked my day away in a sense. It was still there, but that is just not normal. How easy it was for me to feel better… My mind literally changing… I don't even recognize myself…_

As i wrapped up my conversations and prepared to eat dinner and go to bed, I realized that what I really had to do was decide. I could not change this. I had to decide whether I wanted this in the first place. A new life. Did I want to be here? Did I want to become this and forced to undergo permanent change that was beyond my control? Was I happy?

Perhaps the only question I did not have an answer to.

* * *

 **Θ Omniscient POV Θ**

Three humans stood together in a familiar room. That is, except for that the table has been blasted to smithereens by something. Two were familiar as the guardian of life and the guardian of darkness. The third wore blue and white ninja gear that allowed free movement, but would easily protect him from light damage.

The guardian of darkness was peering with slightly squinted eyes at the screen in the middle of the air in front of him. It showed Caleb and the others talking freely after his little performance.

"He's improving quickly" Alex noted, having designed herself a throne of natural wood just by willing it to grow that way. It was elegant, but not in any way symmetrical. However, the guardian of life was the only one that was looking at Caleb and the others.

The guardian of darkness, for his part, was staring intently at the screen in concentration. The newcomer decided to follow his gaze when he saw this to notice that his friend's gaze was instead focusing on another group of eight. specifically on a certain snowflake necklace.

"Took you that long to notice?" the boy asked, turning his head to the red haired boy, his own black hair shifting as he moved.

"Yes…" The boy in question responded, the earlier growl that accompanied his voice gone for the moment "How have I not seen this sooner?"

"You're losing your touch" the new boy teased calmly, A grimace was all he got for a real response until the guardian of darkness began to speak.

"That necklace… I assume you are keeping it's power suppressed?" the redhead asked. It was a rhetorical question of course.

"Of course." the newcomer responded, inspecting the glaceon with the necklace. "That is pure freezarite. If i **weren't** keeping it suppressed, everything in treasure town would freeze over."

"Then please, keep it suppressed" the guardian of darkness practically pleaded, not liking the image of everything in that part of the island frozen solid.

"Sure. You do know what that will mean when I release it, right?" the other boy asked.

"Yes. Of course I do."

"Hmm" the black haired boy hummed as he inspected the image. "What if her life depends on the full power of that thing?"

"Are you willing to freeze an entire island with pent up freezarite energy to save one person? It could mean endangering the lives of others, no matter how tough these pokemon are" the guardian of darkness asked.

"Then i'll redirect the power mostly upwards. Don't worry, only if her life is properly in danger. You know that's unlikely to happen anyways."

"That is reasonable, despite the immense amount of ice that will be created anyhow" the guardian of darkness admitted, acknowledging that the chances of a flash freeze killing one of the pokemon of this world was astronomically low. "You may unleash it's power if and only if her life is in danger and she cannot be saved in any other way. And please, try to avoid freezing anybody solid if you can"

"sure."

Alex laughed, distracting the boys. "Look at those goofballs" she commented, pointing to Caleb's group. "Your namesake is getting soft. I can't even recognize the guy anymore"

the newcomer fidgeted with the intricate katana at his belt, with it's white metal hilt and its red gem, and a sheath that had a blade on it where the katana's blade would be. "Yeah. He is getting soft. Probably good for him, actually. He can still be serious, but around his friends… Jeez, they **are** turning him soft, albeit slowly."

"You guys worry too much" the guardian of life commented, leisurely watching the proceedings as the pokemon in spinda's cafe prepared to leave and go somewhere. "Planning for the future. You don't even **want** us to get involved, so why are you bothering?"

This last jab was aimed at the guardian of darkness, who winced at his friend's logic. Eventually, he just rubbed his eyes.

"I suppose I am simply paranoid" he admitted.

"Maybe" the katana wielding boy responded, looking about in the room. "but there is always someone to be careful of…"

This brought a nod from the guardian of darkness, and then silence until Alex noticed one more thing.

"Hey, that's the ender crystal, isn't it? How'd it get there?" she asked.

"Flux is the one connected to that crystal. I knew it was there of course; I would never miss such a high energy signature of my element, but Flux has it under her power for the moment, and I see no reason to take control" the guardian of darkness responded.

"Just keep your pet enderdragon on a least in case things get bad"

"She is **not** a pet. She is a sentient being who really, **really** hates being called a pet. She is a friend" the redhead replied stiffly. That was the end of the conversation. There was nothing more to discuss, really.

But for the guardian of darkness, there was a clear reason to worry. He knew that there was danger. First was the dark power that he could have personally dealt with, but feared making the problem worse with his own uncontrollable energy, and now this…

Trust was a dangerous thing when given to the wrong person.

* * *

⽯ **Caleb's POV** ⽯

They decided to play with fireworks. They all did.

Pokemon learned about this fun event in which they could, as an entire community, launch explosives into the air because they could. And they were having lots of fun. Magic users had cropped up in various places, either summoning the materials I mentioned or just making stuff up as they went along. Other pokemon were using the summoned materials to try and make some fireworks of their own, but most didn't realize what a delicate process it would have to be. Lots of them got an explosion right in the face, blackening their front half and tossing them a bit, but they were pokemon. They were fine, if a slight bit hurt.

It was already late, but there wasn't any chance the party would end now that people knew that humans would do this all night on the fourth of July. I would probably slip away at midnight, when I had an excuse to. For the moment, everything seemed to be going quite well.

I heard pawsteps, and turned, finding Jake behind me. "Um... Hey." He greeted me.

"Jake." I nodded at him.

"You doing okay?"

Was I doing okay? Well... To be frank, no. My day was long and arduous, and for many reasons I wish I could just do it over, plan better. Do everything right. The highlights were talking to people who were genuinely interested in what I had to say... A rarity back home, and then the exitable children that were in the cafe, I couldn't help but smile.

"No, I don't think I am." I answered him honestly, a little gravely. "I don't think I will be, either. I have a lot of issues I have to resolve, and a lot of them might be long lasting."

It was like he expected that answer. I waited for him to say something, to react in some way, but after all the quiet he had done today, it didn't seem like it would change. And tomorrow, he would have a student and teammate. It occurred to me that he was acting a little differently today compared to any other day. Not differently in how he talked and acted... Different in how he seemed to be feeing while doing so.

"I think you should go to bed early." I told him slowly. The raichu nodded blearily, looking up.

"Thanks, Caleb." he said, sounding very tired. "I could use it. There'll be people dominating the sky over there, too... But I can probably sleep through it..."

I watched him wander off, a little confused. I would keep an eye on him discreetly, but I hadn't seen the slightest fraction of his day. It could have been rough. I thought it would be best if I left this one alone... If his behavior didn't remain like this.

* * *

 **You guys were probably wondering where the other two were... Amber's beating the crap out of Jango as we speak, so you guys get some peace and quiet.**

 **Please continue reviewing, because I love to learn how you guys like or dislike my story with comments and constructive criticism. Thank you all that have done so in the past.**

 **(This chapter has been revised to better suit a project that has to do with this day in particular. When that comes out, There will be quite clear parallels between the project and this, but for now, it's just an edited chapter.)**


	8. Chapter Eight

**Hello, everybody, boys, and girls, and welcome to the next chapter of TAC2.**

 **I decided to upload this later in the day just in case, and as a direct result I got two more TAC reviews and one review for New Age: World of Pokemon. Quite the reward, and now I can respond to those right this minute.**

 **Amber: One of these reviews is for book one.**

 **Me: Thank you. A little mystery surrounding characters, descriptions and such. That being the first chapter I ever really wrote, I'm surprised I did THAT well. I am glad you enjoyed the first chapter, and I hope you continue to enjoy it in the future.**

 **Amber: You have five reviews for book two this time.**

 **Me: Then let's-... Wait, FIVE!? AWESOME! Let's see!**

 **Jango: Raven appreciates your ender dragon reference.**

 **Me: Oh. Right. That. That has a perfectly reasonable explanation that is a bit bigger than this story and won't be explained for a while. As to who I got the riolu character from, it is a slightly edited OC. A different temperament and slightly different past. As for it's initial origins, that is a bit embarrassing. I make an effort to save personal messages regarding OC's, but I was unable to find the original message about this riolu. I documented the bio itself but actually forgot to record the name. If you sent in the riolu with the dimensional scream type ability, I must apologize for my mistake.**

 **Amber: This guest is a fan of John Oliver like you. He's an excellent comedian and is actually on the educational side at times. All of us think that Last Week Tonight is a good show.**

 **Me: While I understand what tbh means, I was uncertain of the context in your review, Phillip Harbindinger. I know the ender dragon comment was noteworthy, and chapter seven had been designed as a way to introduce the OCs I have gathered over time plus some of my own characters or at least reference them.**

 **Spacemarine64... Well... YOU did. I have your PM right here. Of course I still love this story. Even if I was not fond of book two's plot, book three, four and five would drive me along to do what I could to finish what I have started.**

 **Amber: Most of the improvements that gradually occurred in TAC originated with Pigeoncracker's help. While he has been busy recently, his assistance has majorly improved the general quality of this story.**

 **Me: I knew a reflection chapter would help. I've heard some people do like to read the sequel first for some reason, so that chapter served to boost the story for those who read it from the start and to intrigue those who start on book two. It sounds as though I have succeeded.**

 **That seems to be all of the reviews I have! I got five! That is awesome! I love getting reviews, and I would love to hear both criticism and compliments. Makes my day after spending the night trying to fool Akinator the Web Genius.**

 **Jango: That was great to watch. He went to take a shower to hide the tears-**

 **Me: I needed a shower. You are overcomplicating this.**

 **Jango: Am I? You were pretty frustrated when not using characters from this story.**

 **Amber: Jango! Don't be rude.**

 **Me: With reviews responded to in our typical roundabout way, Chapter start!**

* * *

 **Chapter 8: Instinct**

⽯ **Caleb's POV** ⽯

I walked into the team's room. Sarah was close to me. **Again**. Finally, I had my chance. I turned right to Sarah and gave her a look that makes most people shiver. The look that means I am utterly serious and will not be trifled with.

"Explain," I demanded.

Sarah grew confused. "Explain what?"

"Everything. Everything that has to do with my instincts and what reaching my eighteenth birthday actually means. Everything to do with being an absol." I responded curtly. I was in no mood for games. I was in no mood for anything. I had wasted the night laughing and chuckling at silly things, nearly scared children with the topic of death, and had the worst birthday of all time… four months early. Not even the fact that it was early was good. My growth had accelerated or something. It meant my life was probably going to be four months shorter.

So no, I was **not** happy at all. I realized I was finding it easier to become angry nowadays. Perhaps it was stress, perhaps it was my enhanced instincts changing my mind. Soon, unless I stopped it, I would be completely unrecognizable as the same person. I was frightened, and being frightened for the first time in a while brought about a strange sense of anger.

Sarah looked very conflicted, but so far she has obeyed me… for a little while at a time. She took a deep breath while I stayed statue still and waited. I was looking at things I should not have been, such as the fact that her fur was groomed and I was looking at her face. My scowl deepened. Instinct. I was being driven by instinct. No other way I would pay this much attention to someone who did their best to get me to fall in love with them. I am pushed away by such actions. Nowadays, I was not myself. I could not allow my instincts to take control of me.

"...Let me start with the simpler things…" Sarah murmured finally. I focused on her blue and slightly gray eyes finally, glad to have been able to force myself to do so. "I suppose the first thing to talk about is absol in general."

I nodded, signaling for the girl to continue. "Absol have very specific dates that changes happen to them. We live exactly one hundred years down to the minute. We don't show any proper signs of aging until we reach ninety, where we start feeling the effects of getting older. The other date to know is our eighteenth birthday, where, as we call it, we 'come of age'. Our sense of smell and hearing enhance overnight, and several of the instincts that we have within are released." Sarah began.

I nodded again, waiting for her to continue. "While we learn quickly how to recognize males and females on sight, as well as being able to discern general age, our instincts make that much easier, which you probably noticed as smart as you are" She complimented.

I said nothing and waited.

Sarah realized that her compliment had bounced off of the mental armor I had set up for myself, sighed, and continued. "Pokemon instincts are probably different from human instincts. Once, you talked about human reproduction, and it works much different here"

"How so?"

"Eggs appear based on the emotional connection between pokemon. They just… Show up. They appear when the pokemon both feel love for each other and are old enough" Sarah explained. That explained a whole lot to me. The lack of organs for such an action, as well as a few other things. If instincts would push people to reproduce in their own way in this world, and reproduction was actually based on emotional connections, despite how unlikely that was, my instincts would be forcing me to… fall in love with people.

In my mind, I let out the most drawn out, pained groan of all time. My life was just going to get worse, wasn't it? I would have to do my best to fight myself. Inside my mind, I was calculating the probabilities that I would lose the fight with my own instincts. It would be more difficult now. I knew that I did not have same chances of being able to redirect the course of my destruction. Most likely my chances were less.

 _So how long before I am no longer Caleb? How long before I find myself falling in love with someone who I would never fall in love with, or become some carefree creature like a lot of the pokemon here? How long before all my troubles vanish from my memory?_

 _I do not deserve a happy life. Not after what I did to my family. I do not deserve to forget them, nor do I want to._

Sarah saw the look in my eye and continued. "Absol like us tend to have less of an attraction to other species normally, which is different from other pokemon."

 _Ah…_ _ **Shit**_ _._

"Most of us tend to be serious or carefree. I'm different mostly because my own ability destroys my ability to control my emotions…" Sarah continued.

 _This is why I do not wish to be angry with her… She barely has a choice. She can fight it if she really wants to, but she doesn't. that is why she annoys me._

"I will do my best to fight these instincts" I openly voiced, looking over at Shedinja, who had silently appeared near us. "If you see me falling in love with anybody, blast me with a shadow ball **immediately** " I instructed the ghost.

" **Shedinja**."

"Speaking of a shadow ball, that is what I would like you to master tomorrow" I informed Sarah, allowing myself to get off topic. "With the ability to use that, you could surprise others in battle."

Sarah looked rather surprised at my change of topic, but she eventually nodded. I believed I was off the hook for tonight, but she gave me a reluctant yet warm smile and I tensed and tried my best to pierce her blue and grey eyes with my own.

"Could I…. You know… Keep my bed a bit closer to yours?" She asked hopefully, choosing the direct question this time.

"No." I curtly replied.

"Caleb-"

"You are mistaken if you believe I would allow others to make such a misconception of either of us," I explained though I really meant **me**. "For myself, I have been through enough embarrassment and trouble today that I cannot handle any more issues or advances or **anything**. Leave me alone."

Sarah was taken aback by my harshness. So taken aback that she seemed to crumple under my gaze just a bit. "...Okay…" She murmured. To be honest, the sadness in her voice practically broke my heart. I was hurting her. The problem was, if I wanted to avoid dealing with her shenanigans, I would **have** to. I hated it.

"Shedinja has the authority to get in your way if you try while I'm asleep, and he has more patience than even I do. Something tells me he is annoyed at your shenanigans as well" I continued. Then, I moved onto my bed and curled up as tightly as I could, cleverly positioning my tail towards Sarah's bed so that it would be difficult to push her bed up to mine without stabbing herself on my sword of a tail.

Hopefully, it would be a calm and peaceful night…

⽕ **Sarah's POV** ⽕

I looked from the already sleeping form of Caleb to Shedinja, to my bed, to his bed, and back to Caleb. Shedinja moved from side to side as he seemed to sense me thinking about whether I should move the bed anyways.

I knew I needed to do what he told me to. He knew what he was talking about, and everything I did to get him to be with me was an utter failure and basically pointless. But I would keep trying. I knew I would, because if I ever considered **not** doing that, it was like a felt a spike of emotion. I just **had** to have him. These spikes had started recently, as I started having doubts that did no good.

No, I would not move the bed. Tomorrow maybe, I would lose my sense of self-control and get extra close to him. How I wanted to press my cheek against his…

But for now, it was bedtime. Shedinja never sleeps anymore, so I had to deal with it and go to sleep. I knew my dreams would just be more of the same. That was an upside, even if it wasn't real at all and probably never would be.

As I lay awake in my bed, I thought about Caleb talking as if he never intended to fall in love ever, to the point of telling Shedinja to blast him if he thought Caleb was falling in love with anybody. He was going to fight his instincts as hard as he could, but was he able to?

The good side of me hoped that he would manage to naturally fall in love with me.

The bad side of me hoped that Caleb would fall victim to those instincts because, as an absol, I was the most likely option for him to turn to.

My bad side was slightly stronger.

I sighed and tried to fall asleep. For a while, I could only remain awake. Thoughts would constantly fly through my head about being with Caleb, kissing Caleb, sleeping pressed against Caleb's flank… Like I was going to get any sleep tonight.

But it seemed I was. Sleep took me an hour later after some major daydreaming. Eventually, I found myself in a forest. It was dense and beautiful, the kind of place that seemed very relaxing. It was not like the earlier island with the giant tree. It was quieter here.

I looked about, finding Caleb apparently sitting on a log and looking into the forest. I did not hesitate to join him. Sensing my presence, he gave a smile and nuzzled me. My dream Caleb looked into my eyes for a moment, a softness that I had never really seen in his eyes as he did.

Then, as Caleb and I stayed as close as we could be, Caleb turned his attention forward. His eyes widened as he apparently sensed something.

"Down!"

Caleb shoved me backwards off the log and leaped down as well. This was odd. Again, my dream was of him saving me. This time however, I would not have seen whatever that thing was that just shot overhead as we hid beneath the log.

"Arrow" Caleb explained, looking at where it had landed in the dirt. He looked frustrated.

"Let's get out of here… Find somewhere quiet?" I pleaded, hoping to make the most of my night. He looked pained.

"No, they'll be after us." He replied "We're not safe at all. We need to properly lose them"

I blinked. "Who'll be after us?" I asked.

"Humans" Caleb replied, confusing me greatly. I was going to ask a question, but Caleb had other ideas.

"In case I don't make it back…" Dream Caleb muttered, and gave me a deep kiss. I was stunned into silence as Caleb stood up, not clearing the large log, and then he bolted over it and out. There were several sounds of something snapping, followed by several impacts, but there were no screams of pain.

I used my absol sense and found that I could see farther than my training would have allowed. What was this? It was almost as good as Caleb's. I detected several bipedal humans walking into the clearing.

"Did you see that?" one asked

"Never seen one of those before… Think it was another magical creature?" Another asked.

The third did not speak for a while, and I took the time to notice the weapons they had. Two of them had things that looked like mixes between bows and guns. The same two also had swords, and one of them had nothing.

 _...Why the heck to I know what these things are? Caleb never told me…_

"My father won't be pleased to know that there are two more magical creatures around" the third guy finally said as he began to walk towards the log. I mentally pleaded for him to turn around. Why did he think I was magical anyways? I was most certainly not magical.

"If we clear them out now, he might be happy instead" the other one with weapons ventured.

"...Maybe" the guy with the apparent magic creature hating dad conceded "Maybe their horns would be good proof that they won't bother him"

 _Sorry, I'd rather burn you to ashes if you try to take Caleb's horn_

"Oh no, not this again. Remember the last time you hunted the unicorn?" the unarmed guy warned him. Unicorn? "That did **not** end well."

"Stop **worrying**. We have never heard of these things before."

"We don't know that. What if killing them puts a curse on us?"

"Shut up, Merlin"

I would have to ask Caleb who these jokers were. Why was my dream something other than Caleb and I being together. "Be on your guard. You saw how fast that thing moved" one said.

"It got away. You missed"

"We all missed. It was there when I fired, and then it was gone. It was way too fast"

"It's probably dangerous."

I had had enough of the 'it' thing. I tried to sense Caleb, but he had gone. Where had he gone?

 **CRACK!**

the sound of a branch snapping sounded behind the humans, and two of them immediately got their weapons ready and ran off, the third reluctantly following.

Caleb was over there he might need help-... Oh no, he's right next to me.

Caleb smiled at me with a very warm smile. "You look like you were worried. I had time to set a complete false trail and everything before snapping that twig as loud as I could. They'll be occupied for ten minutes at least. Shall we go?" he asked.

I certainly had been worried, and I went and nuzzled him. "I'm glad you're safe," I told him, and he chuckled. He seemed not like when I had dreams of him where he just kissed me and cuddled with me. Rather, he seemed more real to me. What was up with this dream?

"We're wasting daylight. Later, all right?" he asked and started to walk away from the log in the opposite direction "We **are** looking to get to the gate, right?"

"Right." I found myself saying. Why did I say that? It was as if I knew what I was doing. What the heck was this dream?

Caleb started forward at a fast pace. He was faster than he really was. When I started running, I realized that I was as well. My abilities were increased, Caleb was my boyfriend and it seemed more natural than normal, and there were humans after us.

I considered asking Caleb what was up, but I did not. I was worried that it would mess up the dream. I did not want that at all.

Caleb did not stop running for a long time, but finally, we reached a cavern. He walked into it without hesitation. I did follow him, keeping as close as I could.

"I thought you had gotten used to this, Sarah" Caleb commented. Get used to it? My look of confusion got Caleb's attention. He frowned, staring into my eyes intensely all of a sudden.

"Sarah…" He started, continuing to walk along into a cave filled with beautiful crystals that I barely noticed because Caleb was staring at me like something was wrong with me. I realized that whatever this dream was about, this was still Caleb. This was the Caleb that existed in real life, but with some extra love for me. Probably influenced by my dream. Why was this Caleb closer to the real thing?

Then Caleb seemed to nod. "I see. Well, take a look at this" he relented. I was confused. What had he understood? Then, I looked about at the crystal filled cave. It was beautiful, but the glowing blue crystals were not the source of Caleb's attention. He was looking at a blank wall with a symbol scratched into it. A four pointed star surrounded by a circle surrounded by a jagged bit of what could be a picture of energy, a lot like the shape of Caleb's slash attack.

"It's all right, Sarah. I assume this is new for you." Caleb said easily, moving forward and placing his paw on the symbol scratched into the wall. I watched in amazement as the wall seemed to distort and twist into itself until a circle of space opened up where the wall had been to show somewhere completely different.

"I've heard doing this eats up the time you will be asleep" Caleb informed me "You will probably wake up soon."

Then, he gave me a kiss. "I assume that was what you wanted?"

Disregarding his cryptic responses, I nuzzled against him. "Yes…" I whispered, and then my vision slammed into black and I jolted awake, wondering what the heck had just happened to me.

⽯ **Caleb's POV** ⽯

Never have I been so wrong.

"That's gold. That is freaking **gold**." Riley said as he looked up from his book, laughing at my story. The bugger thought my day had been **hilarious**.

"Laugh it up, why don't you?" I asked irritably. Again, it was out of character for me. I hated it, but whenever I lost concentration words just came out of my mouth. It sucked. Riley complied with my sarcastic request.

"I can just imagine you in love with a plant girl" he teased, mimicking a dance with a girl. My scowl deepened. "You cannot dance if you have no one to dance with" I informed him, conveying how much of a fool he looked.

"You offering?"

" **No**." I responded harshly. What was with Riley today? Was my messed up mind messing him up or has he just gotten this way naturally? "That was forced. I had no choice"

"Sure."

I sighed and looked about, pretending not to know that the kids were nowhere to be found when one was behind Riley's chair and the other had somehow hidden under the carpet, which only had solid wood under it. Suddenly, much longer than it should have taken me, I realized that Riley was the distraction, as the kids wanted him to be, and so he was being insufferable to keep me around while I picked him apart.

 _Sneaky buggers. Adorable little kids, but they're sneaky adorable little buggers._

The children were very similar in shape and size, so I had no idea which was which. I needed eyes for that. Should I humor these kids? Yes I should. I formulated a plan. I would get close to the couch at **this** angle…

Playing around with and humoring the kids was much more acceptable to me than doing such a thing around people in the real world. I could relax here. In the real world, I had a responsibility. I had to be smart and professional and make things work out. I was not the guy to be talking on stage and entertaining everyone. I did not need to. I did not want to.

And yet, I was under the impression that I would be forced on stage tomorrow.

My child form shot out from behind the couch in a genuine quick attack, which I had not remembered teaching him at any point. As my plan progressed, I let him strike me and I was knocked over to the carpet, and promptly fell under the space that Sarah's child form had inexplicably dug under the carpet. Little Sarah leaped up and Child Me worked with her to flip the carpet about, and Riley, according to his own part of their plan, quickly tied a knot while available.

Basically, I had been bagged in a carpet.

I sensed Riley grin at me, probably knowing full well I had not fallen for anything but was humoring the kids. That is what Riley was doing as well. The kids, though, were cheering for their victory.

"We got you! We got you!" They cheered, and I smiled at their antics. "Heh. Yes, you certainly did" I lied, already feeling much better than I had when I fell asleep. Worries did not exist here. Riley suddenly got an evil grin and picked up the bag made of the small carpet. "What say we toss him in the lake or something?" Riley offered.

 _You cheeky bugger…_

However, the kids thought that was a brilliant idea apparently. They started thinking of other things they could do with a trapped absol. I started thinking that Riley was deviating from the kids plan, and it was now **his** plan. I wondered where Sheila and Amaterasu were. I also wondered if I should get out of there.

 _Nah… I think I'll play along for a bit and stay silent._

That seemed particularly playful, even considering that this was a dream. It was a good feeling, but a terrible cause. If I was going to be like this, I wanted it to be natural. But it looked that I was already losing this fight with my enhanced instincts.

Riley led the kids to the teleporter and quickly moved us to the lake. They were apparently willing to dump me in… except that Riley also had an obvious coil of rope. The kids were asking what it was.

"This is rope. I'll be tying a very loose knot that will only get loose if he struggles" Riley explained. He knew a knot like that? **I** didn't. What was he playing at?

I found out minutes later as Riley did tie some complicated knot around the carpet and instead of tossing me in the water, climbed a tree carefully and tied me to the thick branch over the water. Just brilliant. Then, Riley whispered something to the kids as he apparently had a plan, and the kids giggled and just waited for me to do something and fall.

Which would have happened if I had not decided to imagine myself behind them and basically put a doll of me in the bag at the same time. A substitution, if you would. I then decided to find the others while they stared at a carpet that was devoid of live hanging from a tree by a rope. I teleported myself away and tried to search for Amaterasu. It took me an hour to do so, and she was just hanging out where her mirror had ended up, where I had moved it. She now had quite the pretty view of trees that were pink and orange around her area.

She was sleeping, as she does.

I smiled to myself. Amaterasu was quite the heavy sleeper, and she did not like being woken up. Not bash you to unconsciousness with her reflector disc dislike waking up, but she was certainly the death glare type. I was not exactly wanting to find Sheila at the moment. She would likely try to analyze me in combat again, or might develop a weapon after I've told her of what I let the kids do.

She wasn't the type to let that kind of story go by without teasing me for getting myself trapped in a carpet, even knowing I let it happen. I would not know what she would do if she heard of my situation today. Amaterasu would probably be much kinder and more patient… once she woke up.

I stuck around there for a while, just lying down nearby Amaterasu. The flames on her disk felt like I was lying near a campfire, and her existence always made the sun feel warmer. It was always a nice sense. I think I got along with her because she had gotten a few things from me when my mind had accidentally generated her. She was similar to me in many ways but had her unique perks. And she was a girl…

 _Damn it all, my mind is an utter_ _ **mess.**_

How quickly I had fallen… But I was going to rest here for a while. Lying on my left side so I did not stab my horn into the ground, I just rested like that, enjoying the quiet. Being an absol no longer felt wrong to me. Probably part of the super advanced and both convenient and inconvenient instincts I now had taking control of my mind.

Now that I had time to think about it, and nobody to judge me around, I let my fear show on my face. I was terrified, **terrified** that I would cease to be Caleb. I feared that I would become some other person, forgetting what I had left behind. I was afraid.

I was not supposed to be afraid. I was supposed to be stoic, unmoving, brilliant. I was supposed to know what I was doing, only make decisions based on rules and facts, and keep myself in emotional solitude to maximise efficiency. I was ceasing to be that person, all because of these blasted instincts.

And now I was growing angry. I realized I had been muttering to myself for a while as I ran through those thoughts again and again. My mind looping for about an hour once more. I ended my mutterings. I began to focus on the surroundings of my dream world once more. Maybe I could train some today and increase my knowledge of my attacks. Training in a dream was particularly good because there was no harm in it.

But when I tried to see if I could extend my absol sense across the entire world I made for myself, I noticed something. Amaterasu had apparently woken up and was sitting up, just watching me. I quickly scrambled to my stomach and sat up. I said nothing, but Amaterasu came up to me anyhow.

"Certainly an interesting day you have had" She commented, sitting next to me, her tail moving about aimlessly. Apparently I had also muttered the entire contents of my horrid day. My face contorted into a frown as I relived being hit with the attract attack, easily the most traumatizing of the events.

"You're thinking too hard," Amaterasu told me, and I blinked and looked at her. Thankfully, she understood me pretty well and continued. "Your mental images of the scene are showing up around you like tears in the air."  
I looked about, and it did look like the air around me had ripped apart and revealed my images of it. "Keep that up and you'll summon another attract attack and hit yourself with it just by memory" Amaterasu finished, saving me once more.

"Thank you" I calmed myself down, allowing the images to fade away. However, a little pink heart of energy dropped out of one of the openings and hit the ground. It did little on impact thankfully, because I had a good guess of what it was, and I did not like it.

I was thankful until the energy in that that released into the area. Amaterasu tried to get in the way, but that made things **so** much worse as it passed through the both of us.

"Don't open your eyes!" I shouted, slamming my eyes shut as I felt a strange feeling in my eyes. "Hearing my voice may do something to you, but It won't control you completely until we open our eyes and see each other." I explained.

Amaterasu laid down and covered her snout with her paws, apparently having difficulty. I decided to shut my mouth and try to make things easier for myself and Amaterasu. I tried to mentally clear the effect, but it did not work at all. Finally, something was our downfall.

Our senses of smell.

I could **smell** Amaterasu, and I felt the attract attack taking effect, addling my brain. In five seconds… I would not be able to control my emotions any longer.

 _ **Dang**_ _, Ammy smells great. Like flowers and springtime. That makes sense I suppose._

Using my absol sense made things harder to stop, so I stopped focusing on what Ammy-... Amaterasu was doing.

 _No no no no no no… Y-NO! I cannot let this take control of me!_

Amaterasu growled as she fought the effect herself, probably having an ever harder time than I was because I had gone and said things. It could probably still control our actions and emotions, but less unless our eyes were open. If we were to wind up looking at each other, it would be an absolute nightmare.

"C-C-C…" Amaterasu started, and I was taken in by her voice immediately, part of my ability to hold back lost immediately. Her voice sounded pretty, and fragile as she fought… Something. What was she fighting again?

My eyes almost opened in response. **Almost**. I squeezed them tight as I possibly could, but Amaterasu was also losing her fight. The test of wills on both of our parts… we were losing.

"Caleb…" Amaterasu murmured, losing some of the tension on her body. My mind registered her voice as far more beautiful than Bellossom's voice ever was, and I lost my fight. My eyes opened slowly, fully. After that, it was over. Amaterasu's eyes opened up. They were pink from the effects of attract, but it just made her look prettier.

Her eyes met mine. It was love at first sight, and we both knew it. No words were shared before we were kissing. My first kiss. Oh, it felt **great** to have a first kiss. Eyes closed and such. A proper, deep kiss. The kiss was followed by us passing by each other, her on my left to avoid my horn, and it turned into a nuzzle, and then promptly a cuddle.

Amaterasu's body was really warm and her fur was long and her orange markings make her look adorable and her now pink eyes made my heart flutter. We pressed our sides together and rubbed out cheeks together, the both of us feeling content and happy. My cheeks felt hot, though Ammy's fur hid ay blushing on her part.

This was interesting because it takes quite a lot of embarrassment or love or whatever to make an absol blush

 _Losing focus on Ammy. Shame on me_ _ **.**_

I ignored the burning sensation on my back, probably from her flame disk. I didn't care. Nor did I care that Amaterasu was not the type to not notice such a thing.

"You smell so… **good** " I told her eventually, speaking for the first time in a long time. She gave off a brilliant smile. "Thank you, honey" She replied "You look amazing with messy fur."

I smiled and again nuzzled her. "Thank you, Ammy" I replied. The wolf and I cuddled with each other for a while, trading compliments and such. Amaterasu was licking my face occasionally, and you know what? I was licking her right back. I didn't care. That was probably instinct getting me to do that.

My few coherent thoughts would blow away in the wind like smoke after I thought them as I had eyes only for Ammy's body and eyes. My human memories surfaced for a moment, and I remembered what humans do when they love each other. I pressed harder against Amaterasu as I suddenly started making a plan. To my pleasure, Amaterasu pressed herself closer, and we kissed again.

I was making plans for the future when I heard a very annoying voice.

" **Abnormal energy detected. Manipulation evident**."

I glared at the large tank. "Get out of here" I snarled while my Ammy nodded in agreement.

" **Intellect compromised. Your orders are not binding to my programming in such a scenario** " Sheila annoyingly stated, the tank just sitting there. The both of us snarled at her, still pressed together.

" **Analysis of scenario complete. Mental jarring required.** " Sheila said " **Sorry about this**."

"What the heck are you talking about!? Get out of here, this is our time!" I yowled at the tank. She managed to make a faceless vehicle look sorrowful, something I did not notice at the time.

" **Firing main cannon**." Sheila finished.

"What the hell are you-" I began

 **BOOM**.

❊ **Amber's POV** ❊

Sleep came quickly for me. I had to flash Absol to sleep again, much to his annoyance. I was worried about him; he would **not** stop trying to protect me when there was no danger. Magnezone did not need sleep anyways, so I always had somebody to protect us.

Having curled up in a tight ball, I was quite warm when I fell asleep. Gardevoir awaited me when I found myself in the little room that was our meeting place in my dreams.

We spoke for a while, but there was little I could really talk about for today. Mostly, we spoke about Caleb's day, which was much more painful. The both of us were quite willing to express our pain at hearing the kind of day he had had.

"I was hit by an attract attack once" Gardevoir remembered. I had to admit that I was slightly curious as to what it did to somebody, as Caleb had not gone into detail and I had not asked. But I got the basic understanding of how it was when Gardevoir shuddered in place at the memory.

"It was terrible. It is not common for a male pokemon to learn the attack, but one did, and I was caught off guard." Gardevoir began "My human companion was distracted, and I got hit. The experience only allows you to think about the pokemon that used it and in a loving way. It feels great until you come out of it through any means. Then, you feel embarrassed and horrible, especially if you have a mate."

I said nothing for a while. Caleb would have loved the experience right up to the point that he came out of it and realized what he had been doing. He seemed not the type to fall in love with people, so it must have been embarrassing for him. Not only that, he must be used to being in control of his own mind, considering how he was able to shatter the cheering charm with sheer thought. To be forced into that, and to find himself falling in love with a pokemon when he was a human.

 _It must have been more horrible than I thought…_

A question came to me concerning her last sentence. "Did you have a mate?" I asked her. She gave a little smile and shook her head. "No, I never had a mate. I mostly protected my human companion" Gardevoir responded.

"So Caleb is probably in shock…"

"Most likely," Gardevoir responded, looking pained. "It hurt me very much, and I imagine that it would hurt someone like him far worse…"

I looked down a bit, feeling his pain. If I got hit by that attack… I shuddered simply thinking about it. My thoughts were interrupted when Gardevoir turned her attention sharply away and stared off somewhere. "W-what is it, Gardevoir?" I stammered, afraid. The last time this happened, Gengar came for a visit. he may not be the jerk that he had been, but he still scared me.

"I am sensing high levels of psychic energy by your guild" Gardevoir eventually replied. That confused me because she had not gotten such a sense before.

"More than before?" I asked, curious. She nodded with a confused look on her face and spread her arms. She opened a little rectangular window to the outside world. I never really questioned how she did that.

The window showed the room for team edge, as it turned out. "The psychic energy is blasting out of this room at an intense rate… but none of these three are psychic types." my friend told me. Sarah was twitching in her sleep, though Caleb was completely immobile. Like how Magnezone is always awake, Shedinja was just kind of hanging around.

"Which one of them is making the energy?" I asked eventually.

"I don't know. It's too expansive, and I can't figure it out" Gardevoir responded.

"Oh… Thank you for trying" I told her, and she nodded. She did not take her eyes off of the group for a long time. That was all right for me this time because I had little to talk about. Caleb seemed happier, and things seemed to get better for him. I had no idea what he was going to do now. His demeanor had changed drastically but at times he just looked sad. Maybe I should have another conversation with him or something. He appreciated our last conversation.

Gardevoir must have read my mind. "I cannot enter his dream directly because he is a dark type, and I have learned how to use the psychic technique that drowzees are capable of, but I could try to send you in. If he is not actively using psychic power, we may be able to assume that Sarah is the one releasing this impressive energy."

I was nonplussed. "Y-you want me to go into his dream?" I asked. Gardevoir was acting strangely, which I did not like at all.

"I have not seen this kind of energy in a long time." Gardevoir muttered "This is very strange. Worrying actually. The last time this kind of energy was released was when the bittercold was destroyed and the minds of pokemon were collectively released and felt more happy emotions at it's downfall. That is a lot of energy. What we are seeing here is the same energy coming from one source, and it could be powerful enough to do anything. That two of them are sleeping and the third has no psychic powers whatsoever, I worry for them."

That last bit got my attention finally, and I quickly nodded. "Okay." I relented, and Gardevoir quickly expanded the gate to the room and the image zoomed in on Caleb. Soon, it seemed to re-expand into a beautiful place. There was a huge mountain with a beautiful lake in its crater, and several different types of forest to walk in. There was one house on a hill where all the types of forest converged on the other side of this land from the mountain.

"It's… beautiful…" I murmured, looking at it. It was so massive. His dream was so large and so complicated that it was downright amazing.

"Don't get too close if you don't want to go in from this height" Gardevoir warned me, and I leaped back, terrified of going **splat** against the ground. Gardevoir instead zoomed in on the little building until I was near the door. The building brought about a twitch on my part for some reason. It was a strange looking house, to say the least.

I decided to step through, and felt like I was pushing against a really strong wall. I pushed at it, and it slowly gave way. Gardevoir frowned in the corner of my vision. I probably looked incredibly comical with my ears back and my fur pushing away from me in multiple directions. "I have never tried to enter such a closed off mind" she commented, "This is impressive, the mental block he has.

I was strong, however. The black piece on my necklace flashed with a yellow light and my body flashed with it. The wall of psychic energy was no match for me like this. I pushed my way through, meeting less resistance and dropped onto the ground. Immediately resuming my normal form, I looked around the place.

The house was two levels, which was impressive enough, but it was made out of very well built and was extremely nice. The door towered high above me. I pushed at it with my paw, and it swung open enough for me to slip through. My tail almost got smooshed, but I pulled it away at the last second.

It was very big, much too big for me. There were actual bookshelves on the left wall of the first hallway, still looking really big to me. I wandered over to the much smaller one near the door and looked through them.

There were books labeled as children's books here. There was Wizard Island, as well as a bunch of others, but Wizard Island was the most used one by far. However, when I looked at the much bigger bookshelf, there was another, much larger book also titled Wizard Island. It was at least ten times bigger than the kids version.

Next to that were books called things like Dark Star, Gateway, or Twelve legions: Battle Royale. The first had a picture of what looked like it could be the sun, but it was surrounded in large flames and was jet black, whereas the stars around it were white and what should have been space was grey. It looked pretty cool. The next had a golden ring with thirteen keys on it that were extremely intricate with different gems in them. They looked expensive. The third book was like a pizza with slices through it (not sure how I knew that word), and had twelve different armies with different flags looking towards the middle.

I went to slip the books out of the shelf, and they just duplicated as I did. I could take these with me maybe, read them a bit. They could be interesting. I took the larger Wizard Island book as well. Maybe I would sneak some other books out when I finished.

 _What am I doing? When did I start taking advantage of things? I should probably have Gardevoir check me._

Next, I continued through the hall. There were rooms about. One looked fun; there was a weird system of colorful tunnels around a single book. I started trying to get to the thing. I was walking through a three-dimensional maze!

It took a long time, but I got out of there, vowing to find a different way out. The book was filled with messages sent to **both** Caleb and Sarah. What this was about, I was not certain, but they were all sorts of messages that detailed Caleb's situation over the course of his time in this world. It was like a diary, but why was it addressed to himself and Sarah? That was certainly odd. Maybe it was just a part of the dream. I did not know how much control he had of this place.

I saw a set of steps going right over the glass, to my extreme relief. I looked at some more entries for a bit, before I saw a few that had my brow raised. They were rather addressed to somebody named Riley, and there was one addressed to somebody named Sheila. Other names… Were these people from his old life or something that he was trying to remember?

I escaped the room and moved to the one across the hall. It looked like the bedroom of a water type pokemon. There was a pretty fountain and pools about. There was a small and messy bed right in the middle as well.

The next room over was full of mostly pink crystals, glowing slightly. A bed of crystals was carefully arranged near the back. It looked surprisingly comfortable. It was about my size, which surprised me. What was this? Caleb was about twice my size, so this was strange.

Down the hall a bit, the house opened up in the next doorway into a very comfy looking room… if there was not a hole in the floor and the drawer was crooked. This was the only part of the house that was not pristine, and I wondered what the heck happened.

I tested the green cushy thing that I could not find a name for and tested it. I could sleep on something like this easy, but it looked like it had a place to rest one's back and arms if they had any. It also looked like it was for something bigger than I was.

My investigation of that room ended when I saw a staircase that had carpet on it. I had never seen stairs like that to my recollection, and it was comfortable just going up there. There was another hall at the top here, with only two large rooms in it and a closet of sorts at the very end. The left room was strange because it had more books and a massive bed looking thing that did not fit the description of a pokemon bed at all.

I tested that as well. There was a thick covering on it, and when I crawled underneath it for a moment to see if there was anything hidden there or something, I realized it was amazingly warm. I could just close my eyes and sleep here, except that it was already a dream. Even so, I felt drowsy just being in there. I got out quick.

I surveyed the items on the desk. Something was disassembled on it, and I tried to put the pieces together for a moment before I realized I had no idea what I was doing. There was a silver metal thing lying there, and when I pressed the button, I was blinded by a light coming from the end. I pressed the button again real quick.

There was an object with lots of buttons on it as well, but after the light incident, I did not want to touch that at all. I walked across to the other room and found another strange sight.

There were books absolutely everywhere and dozens of puzzle looking things. There was a great big bed there, looking like a mix between a pokemon bed and the incredible bed I had just been in. One puzzle was like a sphere with a little metal ball in it that one had to roll the thing with precision. I gave up after losing at the first of two hundred points for the third time. It was hard with paws.

There was a board near the door which I recognized slightly. It looked just like the board that Caleb had called a chess board. The pieces were three dimensional and looked like they were made of white and black metals. The board looked like metal as well. When I touched them, however, I realized that it was actually stone. Marble, maybe. It had looked so pristine…

That was it for the house, really. The window in the left of the upper floor was directly above a section of roof that covered the doorway and was the only open window in the house. I dropped down from it and heard a humming.

I looked over to the right and saw a weird thing with crystals around it. Those crystals were spinning and humming and a light was forming. I decided to get the heck out of there. Not knowing how long I had, my yellow piece of my tetra element glowed brilliantly. Then, I blasted out of there with an incredibly fast quick attack. I was glad I had not released any dust for some reason through the grass. If I had, there may have been trouble.

I once more changed forms, my black tetra element piece flashing. I went invisible with a faint attack and observed the happenings with my somewhat improved eyesight. Three things stepped out of the portal. Two were absol, and the were about my size actually, and the other was bipedal, with a similar body type to a machoke, and he held a silver colored staff. I could not see the features of the two absol, who were on the other side of the one I could not identify, but again I felt a twitch as I looked at him.

The boy's blackglasses hid his eyes well. They were a single piece of glass that had space for his nose in the middle. I could not see through them at all. Deciding investigating was not worth it because these absol were way too small for Caleb, I turned away. I then wondered for a moment if Caleb would appear younger, and looked again, but I could only really see the colors of the two absol. One was regular, and one was red. They were both obviously kids, and were running about like kids.

Knowing that was not something Caleb would do on a whim, I decided to continue. I snuck away for a bit before realizing I had wound up moving at an angle from the beautiful mountain with the lake in it. I wondered if Caleb was hanging around here. I had all night to find him, so hopefully I could check most places. I was headed for the smaller section of forest with pink and orange leaves. This place was truly beautiful and had wildflowers growing absolutely **everywhere**.

I entered a clearing just before the change, and that was when I heard it: movement behind me. I tried not to make noise, and I was still invisible, but then something scared me really bad even as I tried to ignore whatever had snuck up on me.

" **Heartbeat detected. Unidentified resident detected. invisibility active. Stop.** "

I stopped. Then, slowly, I turned around. My invisibility dropped and my form became my original form at the absolutely terrifying sight towering above me. It was metal and had two rods with blue lights moving along it at each side, and a cannon on the top that put a blastoise's cannon to shame. It rolled towards me on those strange things that looked like elongated wheels. It was so many times taller than me….

"W-w-who are you!?" I asked, backing up in terror.

" **I am the BFT, also known as the Battle Force Tank. You may call me Sheila** " the giant thing replied in what was surprisingly female. It was loud, but it was definitely female. I then remembered the name of Sheila. Some of these messages had been for this thing!? I tried to recall the messages to this thing, and remembered something about strategies and such. Maybe this thing was smart? As in, knowledgeable?

My question died in my throat. This thing was huge and scary and that cannon would probably blast me away faster than I could say 'hi'. " **Your heart rate has elevated considerably** " Sheila commented, " **You seem fearful.** "

She nodded her head as she talked. That was weird, but I guess how else could you tell it was talking? It had no mouth or anything at all. I honestly could not even reply. I could only back up in fear towards the forest. maybe if I could run away…

" **Please explain who you are** " Sheila requested. " **If you will not, I am authorised to utilize non-lethal force. After examining your biology with my sensors, I know what will kill you and what will not. I have prepared a device for a scenario such as this, of course. Tranquilizer turret enabled** "

At that, her cannon sunk into her body, and then a completely different weapon popped up. This had two metal pieces on either side acting as a stand and the nozzle was thinner and with a bunch of small holes rather than one big cannon. What was a tranquilizer again?

"Uh… Erm…." I muttered, trying to form words. I was absolutely terrified, but I suddenly, quite my chance, picked out a few words from her statement.

 _Non-lethal… She won't try and kill me._

I took a deep breath and tried to fight off the terror in front of this thing. I could probably take it in a battle, I realized. I was good at fighting, despite not really enjoying it. I had more power than I ever used. "M-my name is Amber. My… guardian… friend, if you will, detected a powerful psychic signature from the room where Caleb was sleeping and requested that I check it out because she could not" I finally replied.

Sheila regarded me, the shivering little eevee in front of her. Finally… " **I have detected no large amount of energy from anyone within this dream world** " She assured me. " **My sensors detect minimal latent powers within your form and necklace. Threat level: Zero. You are welcome to stay as long as you do not cause trouble. Otherwise, I will have to blast you** "

I shivered again, and Sheila turned away, her cannon switching back to normal, and she rolled away. I only unfroze after she was completely out of sight and I could no longer hear her. What kind of pokemon had that been? I had never seen such a terrifying thing. Even looked scarier than Rayquaza had, and being able to sense my heartbeat and analyze me from a distance… what kind of power was that?

Hoping I would never see that again, I continued on. There was a hill in the distance… Knowing that I was going into an open area, I changed and became invisible once more. I had a lot of uses for this form…

I peered up at a strange sight. There was a sleeping pokemon that I had never seen before, kind of looking like a white mightyena but having intricate orange lines all over it's body. She had a flaming disc above her back. She slept while an absol that I recognized as Caleb sat and looked at the mountain.

 _Imagine that. I'm lucky. Caleb's here._

What was he doing? His mouth was moving slowly, as if he was talking to himself. I saw the strange pokemon get up silently and sit and watch Caleb for a while. Caleb had little images of his own memories floating about him at random as he muttered. What kind of thing was this?

Eventually, the other pokemon came up to Caleb and spoke with him, actually managing to startle the absol, and after they spoke most of the images faded away. I suppose with his distraction, Caleb was able to stop focusing on memories. But a little heart shaped bundle of pink energy had fabricated before the images closed off, and Caleb started panicking in a way I had not seen him do before.

 _That must be an attract attack. he accidentally recreated the thing from memory!_

It sunk down and landed on the ground, looking harmless until that energy blasted outwards in a great pink light show. The white and orange mightyena type pokemon got in the way, but it went straight through her. Both were struck, and with my better eyes I could just barely see Caleb's red eyes go pink.

 _ooooohhhh dear…_

Caleb shut his eyes and shouted for the other one to do so as well. They seemed to be able to fight it for a bit, something Gardevoir had implied that she had not been able to do, but eventually, they seemed to lose the fight and wound up looking at each other.

I was not used to seeing people constantly kiss and nuzzle each other, considering that when one was to hang out with your mate like that, the two of you tended to do it alone. This attract attack was probably far worse than what Gardevoir had suffered, because both were affected.

I found myself unable to look away, mostly because I had never seen this sort of thing before. I remembered a kid back home pretty traumatized when he wandered someplace and found two pokemon just cuddling and kissing constantly. It was a kid's reaction, but I was pretty much a kid at this point when it came to experiences. Now I was getting the same thing.

 _Poor Caleb… and poor whoever the other one is…_

My horrified fascination ended when that dreaded Sheila rolled up and pointed her guns at them. I had narrowly avoided an issue with her, but could Caleb? I almost stepped in and tried to protect him, but I was hoping that Sheila would find a way to help the two of them.

I heard all of Sheila's lines.

" **Abnormal energy detected. Manipulation evident**."

A response…

" **Intellect compromised. Your orders are not binding to my programming in such a scenario** "

More inaudible talking…

" **Analysis of scenario complete. Mental jarring required. Sorry about this**."

" **Firing main cannon**."

 _She's not going to…_

 **BOOM!**

I watched as Sheila promptly blasted the two of them apart. The white and orange one landed nearby me, and I froze in the hopes of not being discovered. Her ears were probably good. Sheila's destructive power and speed astonished me. Rayquaza's low-level hyper beams had done that much damage, and that took time to charge. She just shot something at them and blew them right up with no hesitation.

Caleb went flying out of sight. I waited frozen for a bit, hoping that Sheila would not detect my heartbeat. Kind of like a massive hariyama hiding behind a tree thinking " _Don't notice me please"_. That's how I felt, anyways. The pokemon near me shuddered and got up. There were bits of metal in her cheek and side, a little bit of blood flowing. That bomb had shrapnel in it. How dangerous was that giant tank?

I watched as she stood up, her pink eye color seeming to go away for a moment before it returned full force. Whatever had happened had not been enough. She started to race back up the hill, and I slowly and quietly followed her.

Caleb was doing battle with the giant tank already. He was doing all these freaky attacks that seemed to come from nowhere, blasting apart the ground and such. Sheila pulled out a different weapons, saying " **Boxing glove cannon enabled** "

The gun was red and big, looking similar to the original cannon but more comical and red and yellow. " **Firing main cannon**." She said, which she always seemed to do, and blasted a thing that looked an awful lot like a hitmonchan's fist came flying out at intense speeds and nailed the absol right in the face. He went sailing away into the forest. Maybe that would do it, though it looked like it did less damage than the first gun.

The white daemyn type pokemon went to follow, but after a quick decision on my part, my tail became much thinner and my body changed and turned pink. I focused, and the pokemon was halted in her tracks by my psychic attack. I realized what I was doing a moment later, and started to panic when the tank looked straight at me. I was no longer invisible.

Then, Sheila gave a nod to me and turned her new gun towards the new one before blasting her out of my grip with the same glove cannon. She spiraled to the ground there, and this time I expected that she was going to be fine.

" **The two of them were under an interesting effect** " Sheila commented as she rolled up to the pokemon. She looked at me, her top piece revolved nearly one hundred and eighty degrees to look at me. " **If they had known what they were doing, Caleb would have defeated me and Amaterasu would have stopped time to attack**."

I weakly nodded and allowed my form to go back to normal for the time being. This was taking up my energy right now. "Uh… could you not tell Caleb I was here?" I asked, not wanting to get on the human's bad side.

" **If he is in his right mind and asks who has appeared, I will not lie to him, but if you intend to leave in the near future, I will say nothing.** " Sheila promised me. I looked at Amaterasu, who was waking up and her eyes were what was probably her normal now. I quickly took one of my forms on and vanished again.

Thankfully, the creature that was apparently named Amaterasu had not appeared to see me at all, though I could not know if it was an act. She bowed to Sheila. "Thank you, Sheila. It was improper of me to treat you with disrespect. I am surprised at the effect that memory of the attack had on me, as I was unable to fight it. I can fully understand why Caleb was traumatised."

 _She definitely_ _ **talks**_ _like Caleb…_

" **May I ask what you were affected by?** " Sheila inquired of Amaterasu. The being in question nodded.

"Caleb was remembering the attract attack he suffered today, which had traumatised him, and he has accidentally recreated it. The resulting energy was most likely uncontrolled, and we both fell under its effects when I fruitlessly attempted to shield him" Amaterasu responded, bringing about a nod from Sheila.

 _I wonder how Caleb is faring… he was definitely not using some sort of all powerful psychic energy, so…_

I felt a tug and then a powerful pull as Gardevoir was apparently trying to pull me out of there. Amaterasu was sniffing the air, and was beginning to turn around, so it was probably a good thing when I was yanked upward as Gardevoir tried to pull me out of there.

Unfortunately for me, time froze. Amaterasu was drawing something in the air itself with her tail. Perhaps this was a sketch attack or something? But she had drawn a line between something and me. I was still invisible, so there should have been no way for her to see me, but As time started and I started moving again, a vine shot from an inconspicuous floating flower in the trees and wrapped around me.

The pull was very strong. Gardevoir was at a standstill, probably because her psychic effect was severely weakened by Caleb's type. I struggled to free myself, but it was pointless. I heard Sheila speak. " **Giant shuriken cannon enabled** " Sheila said from down there. Her new cannon looked like the first one for the most part, but was flatter with a thin rectangular opening on the front. She was pointing it at me. I started to freak out, but…

" **Firing main cannon** "

 **CHING!**

The impossibly fast projectile blasted through the vine rope just below me, allowing Gardevoir to yank me into the sky once more. All I caught before Gardevoir caught **me** back in my dream was Amaterasu looking at Sheila in confusion, but Sheila was apparently nicer than she looked.

Which meant nothing, because she was freaking **terrifying** otherwise.

Amaterasu scared me with that time stop as well, but that was understandable, and at least she only used a stronger version of a vine whip to get me rather than threatening to blast me right apart.

I breathed heavily as Gardevoir slammed the window shut with utmost haste.

"What **happened** to you in there?" Gardevoir asked worriedly. I stayed on my back where I had been dropped, just staring at the ceiling.

"That was… Scary… But I don't think it was Caleb using that energy" I replied after taking several deep breaths. Gardevoir picked me up and tried to comfort me.

"I'm so sorry, Amber. I did not think you would go through that…" She apologized, sounding frustrated with herself. I was in no mood to have an argument on blame. I don't like arguing anyways. Besides, I had been threatened by a giant tank, frozen in time, and had learned a lot about Caleb, some of which I might not have really wanted to know.

I felt like I had invaded his privacy. It was **his** place. I had trespassed, and I felt really bad about it. "Why… Why did I agree to do this?" I asked as Gardevoir read my mind. She looked sorrowful.

"I was afraid… That energy should be blasting everything around them apart, but it's not doing anything at all" Gardevoir tried to explain, but then shook her head. "I'm sorry… there is no excuse."

I looked at where the image had been, but it was back to the image of team Edge. Maybe I should go into Sarah's dream, but what would I accomplish?

Gardevoir looked at Sarah now. She was constantly reading minds, and was always thinking about the potential outcome. "I would not ask you to do that, Amber… Not after…" Gardevoir slightly broke down.

I felt a surge of stupid bravery. What could be worse than the danger Sheila showed? I transformed and turned invisible.

"I want to check it out."

⽯ **Caleb's POV** ⽯

I had remained awake this time.

My mind exploded back into motion at the impact of that comical boxing glove, which had sent me flying way into the forest. I had attacked Sheila… I had… I had…

 _I'm freaking_ _ **stupid**_ _._

I had to apologize to Amaterasu for… For being about to engage in such behavior. That damn attract attack messed my head up and made me kiss and nuzzle Amaterasu… I had to apologize right now.

Then I had a freaky moment of even more panic when I realized that I had just had my first kiss… and my second.. and third… and fifteenth… Why did I care? I guess my instincts just expected me to get a girlfriend. Guess what, instinct? I had no intention of getting a girlfriend.

 _Hmm… Lots of pretty girls are taken that I've met…_

 _I cannot be thinking about this!_

 _As for singles… There's basically Sarah at the moment._

 _No!_

 _Amaterasu is a dream construct…_

 _Yes. Yes she is._

 _But she's pretty and a lot like me_

 _I will no longer think of this. Period._

I sighed and slowly got up. There were noises coming from the hill I had just mindlessly blown up trying to get Sheila away from Ammy… Amaterasu. Her name is Amaterasu. I could fix that. I could fix the damage.

 **Ching!**

I heard the noise, and looked up, and there was a vine rope falling out of the sky. I frowned, trying to calculate what sort of shenanigans the two of them could possibly be getting into that would result in that?

Suddenly, I felt a slight shudder as my dream seemed to vibrate a bit, as if impacted. That had been really odd. I decided that I should walk off the remaining effects of attract in case seeing Ammy made me jump her. That thought was not pleasing to me at all, which was comforting in it's own right.

The hill looked like a war zone, and only one mortar and two boxing gloves had been fired. I knew that a second one had been fired because I could see it lying on the ground near an Amaterasu shaped crater. There were skid marks on the hill between Amy and Sheila, and the rest of the damage was either by mortar or my angry retribution that obliterated half the hill. I envisioned it as it used to be, and the dream quickly complied, shoving the dirt back into place and growing the grass again.

The two girls looked at me. I really hoped that the heat I was beginning to feel on my face was **not** showing. "Hello" I started simply. Let them say something first. I was not prepared for conversations. My plans would not work, my backup plans would not work, and my backup backup plans would probably not work. My mouth felt like I had tried to eat something extremely dry and I was not willing to try my luck at beginning conversation.

"Caleb" Amaterasu greeted me. I felt a sharp stab. Was Amaterasu angry with me? Was she still affected by attract?

"Amaterasu… I wanted to apologize. I was… Careless" I tried to apologize. Amaterasu tilted her head slightly, giving me a look that made me want to flee for some reason. Then, her face cleared of emotion again.

"While you should come to expect that your thoughts can translate into physical things, that was truly unexpected." Amaterasu said, and I still had no idea if she was angry or not. I blinked. She took that as a sign to continue.

"We can both agree that this attract attack you spoke of that we experienced forced us to fall in love with each other as deeply as possible, I assume." She continued, and I nodded, shivering a little. There was nothing worse than attract. **Nothing**.

"I can say I understand your trauma at being forced into this." Amaterasu continued. I weakly nodded again.

"...I'm so sorry, Amm-... Amaterasu" I apologized again, hanging my head. It was my fault we were forced into loving each other like that. I was **still** calling her Ammy. It was shameful that I had developed a habit after such a short time, and I knew that if not for the attract attack, she would have loathed being called that.

I began to pad away slowly. I needed to recover… Somehow.

* * *

I had made it to the lake, and realized that the kids and Riley were not there, and an empty carpet partly sat in the water, at which I gave a weak smile and then dissolved with my mind. I moved to the water and got into my little heated section that seemed not to ever lose it's hot tub temperature. I allowed myself to stop thinking completely for the first time in a long time and just sit there.

Because of this relaxed state, I did not notice somebody come to the water's edge and join me until I heard the small splash.

Amaterasu had joined me in my little hot tub… Noting that It was quite small and had a lack of space, I raised a brow at Amaterasu. "Amaterasu, has the attract attack truly worn off for you yet?" I asked cautiously.

Amaterasu gave me her death glare, which I seemed not to fear this time around, almost as if it was a joking glare and I sensed it. "I'm not here because **you** are, I'm here because the water is relaxing" She replied curtly, closing her eyes and dunking her head for a few seconds while I aimlessly glanced at the trail of neat flowers she had left in her wake coming here.

Amaterasu resurfaced and shook herself off, splashing me in the process. I had already done what she had, but even so, that was just **rude**. She could handle a little water, right? Even hot water? Did she not carry around a flaming disk on her back at all times?

I was going to react in some way, but I forced the feeling down. It was fine, actually. Why was I acting like it wasn't? I could handle a little hot water as well. I started to pay attention to the fact that this hot tub was very, very small, and because Amaterasu had not put herself right against the wall, she was quite close to me.

I began to be uncomfortable. I wanted to apologize once more for that little incident, but I had no idea how to do it any more. I could not press my back against the wall because my tail would painfully press against my back, hurting both my back in the base of my tail.

"Sorry, I should probably make this thing a bit bigger" I apologized, and began to try and expand the tub. However, Amaterasu raised an eyebrow and I got distracted and only managed to give the hot tub an extra few inches in each direction.

"You have absolutely **no** idea how to talk to women, do you?" She asked, surprising me greatly. I blinked a few times cluelessly, and she sighed.

Now I frowned. "What I don't understand is how **you** think you know how I should talk to women. I'm no female"

"This is obvious."

I flinched. "What I mean is, if I do not know how to deal with women, why is it you females know?"

Amaterasu gave an actual smile. "You're smarter than you look in most regards. Your dreams can handle fully sentient beings, and I seem to understand perfectly how I should act. The only two places in which you are utterly **dense** are with talking to women and how to treat yourself"

"I treat myself in the way I deserve" I countered "My crimes towards my family cannot be forgiven, and I refuse to forgive myself for such a selfish and inconsiderate decision."

Amaterasu's ears flicked in annoyance. At least, she looked annoyed. How I could read her motions was confusing to me. Probably instinct, though that made very little sense. She was not even a pokemon; why did I understand that that meant annoyance?

"Very well. However, you are still incredibly dense in the manner of speaking with girls"

"Is that what you have come here for?"

"I told you, this water is relaxing."

"Then I shall give you some space."

"Give me some space? I assume you mean you."

"And how do you know this?"

"You're blushing."

I froze. There was in fact heat on my face. I shook my head violently, halting in my tracks to get out of the water. "It seems I am. Probably has something to do with these new blasted instincts" I muttered, letting myself sink back into the water, slumping so that most but my eyes and horn were out of the water.

"Your instincts are very advanced" Amaterasu noted. Seems my ears are out of the water as well. "My understanding is that pokemon reproductions is somehow based on emotional connection. If that were true, it would only make sense that your instincts would do more than drive you towards women, but make you fall in love with them."

Her analysis fit perfectly with my own. "I reached that conclusion as well" I told her "As well as the fact that these requirements would have easily driven multiple compatible species of pokemon to become sentient, which properly explains why I have met no purely instinct driven beings… Though my instincts are destroying my self control over time…"

Amaterasu nodded, understanding. "You can speak to me of course" She offered "I will help you understand what to do. Perhaps if I could contact you while you were awake…"

"I don't know how to help you do that."

"You got that book working." Amaterasu pointed out. perhaps if someone were to write back to you, it would work?"

I considered the possibility. Things were pretty advanced here because things worked out just how I wanted them to. If it would do that, I could hopefully engineer a way for the others here to contact me. "I can make the attempt, but I cannot promised any results"

Amaterasu sighed. "I suppose that is the best I can hope from you for now" She muttered. Then, she went back to relaxing. I realized the reaction I was having was probably what I would feel if a human girl I found pretty just randomly joined me in a cramped hot tub. No wonder I was blushing earlier, though my face felt fine now. I wrote that earlier situation to me getting the attract attack out of my system.

To be honest, I was not sure of which to fear more; should I fear the fact that I could accidentally cause myself to be hit by a memory of an attract attack, or my instinct's basic function of ruining my mind and replacing it with a carefree potential lover boy?

Or the fact that I really had counted the kisses I had received today?

My first kiss was with a dream construct. Could I call it a first kiss if it was in a dream? Yes, because these people are fully sentient and continue on after I have woken up. I had my first kiss… up to my fifteenth tonight. Most people would consider that an impressive number, but I was scared that it had permanently affected any interaction between Ammy and I from this point forward.

 _And there I go calling her Ammy again… So glad that she can't read minds._

I was pretty sure of that anyways…

Terrified as I was of my own instincts and that blasted attract attack. Those who use the attack were not to be forgiven. Ever. But this time, it was my fault, even if it was an accident. At any rate, the experience of that was just the worst ever. Of all time.

The only distraction from the effects of attract was the person I was just forced to fall in love with. When I tried to increase the space I had, she glared at me for some reason. I forced away the weird feeling that came with sharing a hot tub with a single girl to continue on calculating and just about everything else I need to.

I went to get out once again, and caught Amaterasu's glare. "Amaterasu, mind explaining to me why you don't want me to leave this extremely cramped pool of water that happens to be increasing in temperature?"

The hot tub really was heating up slowly. It was most likely the flames on her reflector making things steam up around her.

"Mostly because you have not properly distracted yourself. You are leaving to avoid the embarrassment of being here. Not because you have other things to do" Amaterasu proclaimed "You want to overcome those instincts of yours. You have to learn to think of other things properly rather than falling victim to them"

"You're… doing this to help? Because… This is not helping at all. This is akin to torture" I informed Amaterasu. It felt like at least. I decided to make a run for it. Time froze as I leaped out of the water. I thought about being immune, but it was too late. Seems Ammy was a fast drawer. I was slammed by a blast of water and sent back into the hot water.

"Maybe" Amaterasu admitted as I surfaced, my eyes shadowed and my temper brewing.

"However, this is the best way to help you learn how to A: treat and deal with girls, and B: try to keep your emotions in check as well as your instincts. I can try to help you."

I said nothing, seeing sense yet not feeling very good at all. "What do you want me to do?"

"Try talking to me."

"Uh…." I responded, blinking a few times. We were **still** close together in this freaking hot tub. In fact, I was closer because Amaterasu had blasted me back into the water. Try talking to her?

"Erm…" I muttered. Why was talking to a girl so difficult at the moment? Did it have something to do with my mind being completely screwed up at the moment. I groaned. "Just hit me or something…"

 **GONG!**

Ammy's weapon sailed up and right into my skull, submerging me into the water.

 _Dang… That felt pretty good. Okay… Slightly back to normal now. She wants to talk? Let's see…_

"Uh… I don't really have anything to start a conversation about…" I admitted, coming up with nothing.

"Rubbish"

"Excuse me?" I asked, surprised at her bluntness.

"You are fully capable of conversation. You have conversation with others every single day. Only your jumbled and manipulated emotions are keeping you from talking to me properly."

" **This** is not helping **."**

Amaterasu sighed. "This is supposed to be as awkward as it can get. If you ever want a chance with a real girl, you might be put in a situation like this that you must contend with. I guarantee you that it **will** happen.

"...What makes you think I want to get a girlfriend?" I asked.

I saw Amaterasu sweatdrop at my statement. I had caught her off guard, which was tough to do. I guess girls had a specific idea that boys always wanted a girlfriend. Guess what, I didn't.

Amaterasu blinked a few times. I was content for this conversation to end. However, my hopes died that moment as she spoke again. "Your instincts apparently want you to get a girlfriend." She reminded me "And you might meet somebody that you wind up liking for real in the future."

I thought about it. Yes, my instincts were advanced and were not driving me towards the action that it normally would, but was going to wind up making me fall in love with people. That made my argument null and void. I should be following along with Ammy's plan at the moment. She was a smart girl. She knew what she was talking about.

"...Very well. Uh… What do you want to talk about?" I asked, avoiding coming up with a topic myself. I was still drawing a freaking blank. I froze when I saw Amaterasu give a smile. A white wolf with orange markings was smiling at me.

 _Damn it all… That's me going off my rocker once more…_

"Well well, how considerate" Amaterasu said. "Well, I would like to talk about recent events here."

"Sure" I agreed. Then, I flinched. "I mean… Certainly."

Amaterasu chuckled. She **had** to be putting on an act. Or… Did I not know my own creations well enough? Was Ammy really this kind of person rather than being nearly just like me except… female and not a pokemon? "First things first, you should probably loosen up" Ammy told me.

"It is not me saying these things. I am supposed to use big and impressive words. It was not until this instinct catastrophe that I began to relax against my will. Anything could happen when I am wasting time relaxing" I retorted.

I wondered now if Amaterasu was also being affected by my instincts. She was a part of my mind, so she would theoretically be affected by any mental illness I could suffer, and this was beginning to qualify. "Ammy-... Amaterasu, do you think your new mindset is influenced by my instincts?" I asked, accidentally using her nickname again.

What scared me is that I did not get a death glare for using that nickname.

Amaterasu tilted her head cutely- _in confusion! Damn…_ -"Perhaps, but this is still something you will have to learn to handle." She explained. I understood her reasoning, but if she was going to be affected by this instinct of mine, is she really qualified for this?

That was my newfound embarrassment talking. She was actually the most qualified for this, given the circumstances. I had to admit that.

"Very well. What has gone on while I have been awake?" I asked.

"Mostly the same sort of shenanigans that normally occur," Amaterasu said with her version of a shrug "But there were several points where things got a bit out of hand"

"Such as?"

Amaterasu sighed. "You have a **lot** to learn. Try again." She instructed.

"...Uh?" I asked. At her raised brow, I sighed. What the heck did she want from me? She was getting me to talk to girls properly… "Erm… What happened?"

Amaterasu's frown turned into a smile. "Better. Well, for one thing, those kids you keep around are **insufferable**. They will not let me rest at all." she complained in a very Amaterasu way.

I let myself laugh a bit in humor. "Of course it's about sleep" I chuckled "They're **kids**. It's their job to be annoying, and you're the only female they have in their lives other than Sheila, and she doesn't really qualify as a role model"

Amaterasu eyed me. "Teasing is usually reserved for those who already have a relationship with somebody" She said "But considering you do already know me, that works fine. What if I was a girl you just met? Good point about the kids, by the way, but there was no sympathy in what you said. When a girl is having a problem, most cases they would like some form of comfort or sympathy."

"If I had just met you, I would have escaped already." I answered her truthfully.

"Not so, not with your mind in the gutter" Amaterasu retorted, and then smiled and leaned slightly forward. I leaned backwards just as much. "Treat me as if you are first meeting me" Ammy instructed. I was still leaning away, my poor tail pressing against my back as I inched towards the wall over time.

"Uh… I did not know that they were causing you so much trouble, but… They're kids. They do these things" I tried again, and Amaterasu moved back, much to my utter relief.

"Better than before, Caleb" She complimented.

"Can we do something that makes more sense… Like battle training or something?" I pleaded, realizing that I was at my limit and the rock wall I was against was quite painful for my tail and therefore my back. It was true that fighting made more sense to me than talking to girls.

 **After** you deal with this. Caleb, you are going to hurt yourself if you back any further away from me." Amaterasu noticed. I sighed. This was going to be a great way to end off the worst day of my life, I just knew it.

That was sarcasm, in case you haven't noticed.

"Okay… Very well. What is next?" I asked.

"You tell me."

 _Garr…. Ammy, you are just the worst at times._

At least she was distracting me from her looks- oh wait, never mind. "Right. Haven't met you before…" I started thinking. "I suppose the first thing to ask would be your name."

Amaterasu scoffed a bit. "Not like **that**." she muttered.

"Sorry… What was your name?" I asked, knowing full well what her name was but trying to play along. Heck, this could work if I get really lucky.

"It's Amaterasu" she wolf replied.

I needed a way to continue on with this, otherwise this conversation attempt would be rubbish. If I could not handle something like this, I had zero chance with the girls… That I was not interested in being with at the moment. Problem was, my instincts had other plans, and I had to either fight it or go along with it. I would train for both.

"Could I call you 'Ammy'?" I asked the wolf. I got a death glare, but it was Amaterasu's turn to play along. Her eyes clearly said " _Why must you share your pain with me?"_ but I was not remorseful in the slightest.

Amaterasu smiled. "Not yet" she teased, and despite all of my will, a blush rose on my face.

 _I'm doomed._ _ **Doomed**_ _!_

❊ **Amber's POV ❊**

Sarah's dream stood in front of me. I did not think there would be as much of a scare this time, mostly because it was Sarah and not Caleb, but I still hesitated. Gardevoir looked at me with worry in her eyes. "It's not too late. you can decide not to do this" she told me.

"If this psychic energy is dangerous, Gardevoir, do I really have a choice? You can't go in there, and I've taken down Rayquaza before. I just…" I responded, trailing off. I got afraid so easily without Charizard or Gardevoir there. I never really understood why.

Gardevoir sighed. "If you insist." she murmured, somewhat defeated "Just know that like in Caleb's dream, I can pull you out at any time." That made me feel better.

"Thank you Gardevoir. Now, I should probably go" I responded, feeling a strange surge of confidence again. I stepped towards the opening in the wall of my dream that connected to Sarah's. Pushing myself through the wall was much easier. Maybe Sarah had forgotten to build a mental shield of sorts…. But on the other hand, why would she?

I dropped onto the forest floor. The colors were vibrant here. It was interesting to say the least. It was clearly a dream, considering the colors were bright and unrealistic even by the standards of this world…

 _There I go again. What do I know about the human world?_

I saw… Caleb? he was sitting on a log and looking into a forest. I immediately changed and went invisible again, hoping not to be seen. Then, I saw Sarah leap up next to him. My brows rose as the two nuzzled. Of **course** this would be her dream. Duh.

But then, everything changed. The landscape became sharper, as defined as reality, and the color faded to what was normal for a forest. Caleb focused on a space somewhere to my right.

"Down!"

Caleb pushed himself and Sarah over the edge of the log and backwards. The two disappeared as two arrows shot from the trees and embedded themselves behind them. I froze. Who was attacking them?

Then, things got a lot worse for me. Things seemed to flicker, freeze, and I heard Gardevoir.

"Amber! Get out of there now! Amber-!" her voice said before I looked back at my entrance just to see it flash out of existence.

I was stuck.

I bounded over to the spot where it had been and felt nothing. I looked back to where everything had gone into motion. I heard some talking between Caleb and Sarah back there, and then things got really out of hand. Three creatures, human by Caleb's description, walked out. Two held multiple weapons, and the third had no weapons and wore much different clothing.

Suddenly, Caleb bolted over and away while the humans had fired once again. Caleb's speed astonished me; he was crazy fast, and he disappeared in a random direction.

The trio of humans started talking. I listened in, and they seemed to think that the pair of absol had been some sort of magical creature. I stayed hidden. If they shot at Caleb and Sarah, they would probably shoot at me. One was mentioning unicorns and a curse, and the other guy was telling him to stop worrying and shut up.

I decided to follow Caleb. I don't know why, but for some reason I thought Sarah would be just as confused as I was. I bolted after Caleb, seeing him doing something very strange with the ground. He seemed to be running backwards, putting his paws into his paw prints. He was making a false trail.

I watched as he then picked a branch up in his teeth, put it on an indent in the ground, and promptly snapped it with his paw. The loud noise travelled through the forest, and then Caleb carefully leapt away to the side a great distance. I had to follow him before the humans got here. I bolted after him, being as quiet as possible and hoping that at the speed he was going he would not be paying attention. Like Daemyn, I had in fact trained to hide from an absol's sense before all of this happened.

Caleb stopped for just a moment. he looked **straight** at me. His brow rose for a moment. "Shouldn't you be keeping Jango in line? You know how he is." He asked, and I shuddered. I had hidden so well that his absol sense should not have detected me. Was this because it was a dream?

Caleb then bolted back to where Sarah was. I decided to follow at a greater distance while Caleb led Sarah (and me) to the mouth of a cave and then inside. Filled with beautiful crystals, the cave had all sorts of light shows to be seen from the glow in those crystals. However, Calebs focus was not on these crystals at all.

Watching from the side, I saw his paw touch the wall, and the wall twisted and then opened in a circular opening that held an entirely different place. Caleb began to speak with Sarah, and the only thing I really caught…

"I've heard doing this eats up the time you will be asleep"

I froze. How much time had passed? What was Sarah doing? She looked very confused, but I was freaking out. Maybe I had been cut off from Gardevoir because the night was blowing past me? I had been caught like a fly in a trap.

Caleb kissed Sarah and asked something about whether that had been what she wanted, and then Sarah's body turned black and that blackness spread out from her at an alarming rate. I could not begin to run away as the roaring darkness enveloped me and then I suddenly felt myself go flying.

I screamed as I was thrown somewhere, and crashed into something as I lost my dark type form. There was another wail of pain as I and someone else were blasted into a wall and dropped. The two of us lay there, quivering and shaking, until I noticed who it was.

"Gardevoir!" I shouted, jumping up and shaking the larger pokemon. Said pokemon weakly shifted her head and looked up. I gulped at the sight. "What happened?" I asked as calmly as I possibly could.

"You… You were gone.. All night…" Gardevoir murmured, coughing a few times. She looked badly damaged. "I got a blast of that psychic energy when you got trapped in that dream, Amber. I couldn't sense you anywhere… I thought you had been taken somewhere or… or destroyed…"

"I won't do that again! I promise I won't!" I hurriedly exclaimed. The bright pink piece of my tetra element flashed a brilliant pink, and I felt my body shift so that I could use one of my most useful techniques. A brilliant pink energy formed in front of me, and I hit Gardevoir with my heal pulse. The effects were surprisingly not as fast as Sara's heal pulse, meaning I did not practice enough with this. Sarah was naturally gifted, it seemed.

I wondered just how true that was as Gardevoir stood up. She quickly wrapped me in a motherly hug. "Amber… I'm so glad you're safe" she murmured as she squished me in her arms. I tried to ask her to let me go, but I couldn't breathe.

"H-help…" I muttered finally, and she released me suddenly. Gardevoir really was more of a friend to me. More like a mother figure. She did her best to help me, sometimes even giving me advice when I was awake.

"I'm… I'm alright" I managed. "It was scary, but I was in no real danger."

"I'm glad…" Gardevoir murmured

"But if Sarah is using that psychic energy, she doesn't know about it" I stated "Even though the dream was very weird. I think it could be, but… I don't know."

"That's all right, Amber" Gardevoir assured me "That's all right…"

⽯ **Caleb's POV** ⽯

 _Gah…_

Amaterasu had gotten me to fight without anything but my physical capabilities. Shamefully, I had been getting wrecked. Not to mention that every time Ammy smacked me with her reflector or punched me with her paw, she would make some sort of flirtatious comment to carry on the horrid lesson we had **just** finished. Another thing I had failed epically.

I was bad with girls. Period. I was a lost cause, and nothing was going to help me. Considering the amount of shenanigans that Ammy put me through, it was stunning that I could still think coherently. Or maybe I couldn't.

"Well, I think you're about to wake up" Ammy stated, her voice blissfully going back to normal. I sighed in relief. The wolf looked me in the eyes. "Unless I am mistaken, your instincts should now focus on me and make it easier to avoid falling in love with others in the real world, unless it can work for two different people." she said.

"That was your plan?" I asked wearily. It had worked at least. I would be tortured here rather than the real world… the real world that would find other ways to torture me. Well, at least I could hopefully avoid falling in love with Sarah based on instinct.

I started fading away for the morning, so I caught her nod and the smirk on Riley's face who had been watching my battle. I had a lot to learn for fighting without using moves. Not to mention how to talk to girls, though Ammy seemed to be handling it.

There were goodbyes of course from the kids, but they were really the only ones this time. Amaterasu was giving me a smile that was wreaking havic with my mind that I was struggling to fight, Riley was smirking knowingly at me, which was almost worse, and Sheila was blessedly absent.

 _She actually hit me with a freaking boxing glove. Embarrassing. When the hell did she adapt a freaking boxing glove cannon? Just for this occasion?_

I woke slowly, and slowly got up. Loudred was probably coming along now to wake us up, so I was glad I had awoken first. I could spare Sarah and I from the noise of his voice. I checked on the others. Sarah was sound asleep, completely unmoving this time. Shedinja, who never needed sleep, looked at me emotionlessly.

Then, Sarah gasped and lunged up and awake, breathing hard. I backed up quickly to avoid any fire or anything she could release in apparent panic. Nothing spewed out of her mouth, but I was still apprehensive. She had not been acting as though she had been having a nightmare, but here she was, looking really freaked out.

"Sarah, are you all right?" I asked, refusing to ignore this obvious issue despite any potential consequences. Sarah looked at me, and her wide eyes softened a bit. "I-I'm all right. It was just a bit… Weird. I'll talk about it later…" she murmured as she walked up to me.

I took a step back. "Yes, you can explain later. I would prefer that you don't do what you are so obviously planning to right now however" I asserted, and the absol blinked before slouching a bit and stopped. She looked pained. I wonder what I was doing in her dream. Probably making out with her if I knew Sarah.

Loudred barged in, preparing to scream us out of our sleep, and sweatdropped as he saw Shedinja, Sarah and I look at him in unison. He blinked.

"Y'know, if everybody acted like you three, I'd be out of a job," Loudred told our group. I nodded, and Sarah followed my lead. Shedinja floated up and down. It was time for the morning routine… Again.

* * *

 **Hey, I know this chapter had ALL the words, and that it was mostly exposition and dream stuff again, but there were things to clear up and embarrassment to be had on Caleb's side of the story... I truly have spent too much time with Jango.**

 **I just want to say that I appreciate everyone that takes the time to review for my story, or to show that they enjoy it and want to read more by following it. It tells me even more how much people like it when I am notified that someone has favorited it.**

 **Please, continue reviewing if you have something to say, whether it be constructive criticism or compliments or other comments and feedback. I appreciate it.**

 **I have a lot of OCs that are proper characters, and I realized that if I do too much it will be difficult to give each OC proper time on the spotlight. However, if you still want to see characters in this story, there is plenty of room in the tournament for teams that may not serve as much of a purpose plot-wise but still can participate in the tournament. Just PM me the team, their team name, and some minor information that could tell me how they fight. Thank you all.**

 **I hope you all continue to enjoy reading my stories. Have a pleasant day!**


	9. Chapter Nine

**Jango! Get off of the computer! I'm late!**

 **Jango: So what? *get's knocked away by Amber***

 **Amber: Stay down and shut up. Hyper, relax.**

 **Me: *pants for breath* Yes. Yes. I know. I am sorry for being late you guys. I can say this won't likely be the last time, either. School has started, and Calculus is a thing that exists, however much I do not want it to be that way.**

 **Jango: Review time!**

 **Amber: I told you to stay down and shut up.**

 **Jango: Yes ma'am! *Continues standing***

 **Amber: Impossible git...**

 **Jango: You know it!**

 **Me: Yes, yes. At any rate, I got reviews! I love reviews! Let's see the reviews. *Shuffles papers* ...These are all out of order...**

 **Amber and I: Jango!**

 **Jango: ...**

 **Amber: *Glares***

 **Jango: You told me to shut up!**

 **Me: Okay...** **J 1z Da Leg3nd, you probably should have read book one first. spoilers everywhere there. Yes. Glad you liked it. I had believed I was making a good decision with a reflection chapter. Glad I did my job. That review was for chapter one, unlike the others.**

 **Jango: Next: Our main man Phillip Harbindinger. Dude, they had daylight on them. That's daydreaming, right? Even if Caleb is already asleep?**

 **Amber: I agree.**

 **Jango: Yes, Amber did do all of that. Didn't you do something else as well?**

 **Amber: I moved a chess piece. Caleb never talked to me about that, so I don't know if he ever noticed. We'll find out eventually.**

 **Jango: Get your sleep. You'll need rest.**

 **Amber: Jango, that was... good advice!**

 **Jango: Don't tell anybody, all right?**

 **Amber: You just told everyone who ever reads this.**

 **Jango: Dammit!**

 **Amber: And another main reviewer, Raven the Dragon. She reviews quite a bit. Nothing but compliments from her again. That's fine really, if she really couldn't find anything to criticize at all. Just remember to say something if you see a problem. Keep on reviewing.**

 **Jango: Hey! Spacemarine likes Ammy torturing Caleb too!**

 **Amber: You have a new friend. Congratulations.**

 **Jango: And ClassicalInvention decided on the term 'Caleberasu shipping'. Hyper, your thoughts?**

 **Me: Wait and see. No spoilers today.**

 **Amber: ClassicalInvention also suggests a time skip. Good thing Hyper actually did that a few times here. And he solidified the remaining time before things happen.**

 **Me: I never really intended the other guild members besides Jake and Swampert and the other ones that are already friends to Caleb to be super involved in character development. As of right now, Sarah has the moves water pulse, flamethrower, shadow ball, razor wind. The latter is no longer a normal type move, rather, it is a flying type move because that actually makes sense. Just know that I will not be playing the game of only having four moves. Logically, I think that's pointless to enact here.**

 **I will explain more things, some pertaining to this chapter, after the chapter. Thank you all for reviewing, and enjoy the chapter.**

 **Chapter start!**

* * *

 **Chapter 9: The Routine.**

⽯ **Caleb's POV** ⽯

Sometimes, life smiles on me. Those days are relatively rare, and lately it seems to have abandoned me entirely. Today, however, seemed to start out well enough. Breakfast tasted brilliant, with pecha berries and oran berries (I was suspicious of the latter, but no mind numbing effects were experienced thankfully). There were bananas of course. Chimecho seemed to be joking around with me by continuing to use these bananas in her meals. They aren't **that** good. I almost began to regret bringing that first batch into the guild at all.

Sarah was striking conversation with me, something I was finding easier today. I felt a little more confident about how I could handle my instincts, with Amaterasu taking the space my mind has for requiring a girlfriend. I still found it incredibly embarrassing to be forced to love somebody, but at least it's nobody in the physical world.

Besides, Ammy was already a friend and somebody I could talk to. For some reason, it felt less strange for me now than in the dream world just an hour before.

 _Still plenty freaking strange. Still going nutters._

But I had things to do today. Sarah needed to learn shadow ball. I needed to analyze competition and work out strategies. Shedinja needs to understand the full extent of his abilities as an apparently invulnerable wall that has only been taken out once by the wing attack of Tropius.

Absol and I would work out the plan for everyone else once our group met up today.

"Hey, Caleb." Sarah started, drawing my attention to where she was walking right next to me. She had been acting slightly different around me this morning, which confused me a bit, but whatever dream she had, she apparently found it to be 'too weird to share'.

"Yes?"

"I know i've been acting… weird." Sarah began "It was just a dream that wasn't really normal. I was wondering how to talk about it because I had no idea why it was so different."

"Was it similar to the dream some of the others described about the monster? The one that… well… wound up being me or Daemyn?" I asked, having explained once that those dreams could have been the product of some small levels of dark energy that Sarah had managed to obliterate.

 _Forgot to say 'Daemyn and I'. My grammar is degrading…_

"No… It wasn't dark and… well, dark." Sarah murmured "My dreams are usually more colorful than reality, and usually they are things that I, um… Like"

 _So… Sarah dreams of me kissing her._

Moving that deduction I kind of already had made to the back of my mind, I continued with the questions. "This was not as such?"

"It was realistic. **extremely** realistic," Sarah responded "I felt everything, and nothing seemed out of place at all. Nothing seemed to be inconsistent. In fact, it was like it **was** real. Except for what actually happened."

She watched me as I considered the current situation. "That is interesting, but… with the information I have now, I cannot give you a definitive answer." I admitted.

Sarah nodded and smiled. Then, she nuzzled me, making me leap away like a startled cat. Oh wait, I kind of was. "Thank you for trying." she finished.

"No problem. At least, no problem with trying to help" I quickly amended. I did **not** need any more tokens of affection today. Problem was, that was likely exactly what I was going to get. However, I got the distinct and bad feeling that Sarah was going to be quite a pain to deal with today. Something about the mix of her dream being extra realistic and me still being with her seems to have encouraged her greatly.

I was not willing to run away like a scared little kit-... I mean kid. Thus, I wound up letting Sarah walk right next to me as if we were together or something. I mean, physically, we were right next to each other. Yes, I should think of it like that. Nothing going on, no signs of affection.

I wished Sarah followed along with my ideas…

* * *

Today… was actually rather boring. I busied myself with discussing tactics with Absol, Amber, Erza and Daemyn. We team leaders and Absol spoke of strategies for battle, without necessarily giving away any special secrets. It had been productive, for the most part.

"Sarah, I really do not know what is keeping you from using shadow ball properly" I told the girl as she blasted herself again. While she tumbled down the slope of the tiny meadow once more.

"I know… I have to keep trying, right?" Sarah asked, getting up and returning to me. Normally this was accompanied by a warm look or even a nuzzle I had to dodge, but she was getting frustrated and was trying to focus now. It made me happy that she was finally getting her act together, even if it wouldn't last.

I got an idea, one I promptly gave myself a mental smack for not thinking of earlier. "Sarah, please take the stance you do when you are preparing to fire off a shadow ball." I requested. Sarah immediately complied, spreading and bracing her front legs in front of her, digging her back claws into the ground. In fact, her front claws were also digging into the dirt.

I analyzed the situation quietly and quickly. "Okay… Make the motions as if you were going to fire a shadow ball. Slowly, and don't actually use the attack." I instructed.

Sarah slowly went through the motion that she took when gathering energy from her claws, and then she did absolutely nothing except shift back a bit. She stood back up as normal. "What do you think?" she asked me.

"Why do you shift back?"

"I kind of expect it to cause some sort of kick, like how my flamethrower threatens to push me back." Sarah admitted, and I came up with a plan.

"For this round, pretend that there will be no recoil at all. Push forward. In fact, I want you to try and headbutt the thing." I continued. Sarah looked slightly taken aback before nodding. Having someone so madly in love with me meant that she would not argue with me, but was that benefit greater than all of the drawbacks?

"Here goes…" Sarah murmured, generating her ghostly sphere, which floated in front of her. I took a moment to check where she was aiming…

"Sarah!" I called, but it was far too late. She slammed the shadow ball with her head, and for once, it shot forward. Her success was solidified by a huge explosion and a rather loud yelp of surprise and pain. Her shadow ball was bigger than Shedinja's, and both bigger and stronger than Daemyn's, though Daemyn's shadow ball was much faster.

Sarah's look of jubilation lasted for as long as it took for a frowning mightyena to stagger to his feet in the crater, looking quite battered. I had known that Sarah was quite powerful in regards to her special attacks, the opposite of the abilities of a normal absol, but… That was quite the explosion. I was impressed at her abilities; she was overpowered compared to most of us save Bastiodon and maybe Amber.

 _I still wish I knew what Amber was actually capable of…_

" **You**." Daemyn growled, stalking out of the smoke. his fur was a mess. "Watch where you're aiming, hothead!"

"Watch where you're standing!" Sarah retorted, causing me to sigh. They had such a routine at this point that it was more about doing what they had been doing in this scenario than actually arguing. Under the fur, they were pretty good friends, despite Daemyn getting rather ruthlessly knocked off of his temporary crush for Sarah.

Tired of this routine, I turned to Bastiodon, who was calmly watching the situation as they butted heads and started trading rather pointless insults. "Erza is training with Amber…" the steel type muttered.

"As far as I can tell, this is their version of a game." I replied quietly. "The two of them are simply…"

"Rivals."

"Yes. Rivals is the word. Erza likes to get involved as well and play the big scary girl that takes them both down. It's actually rather interesting that they play like that in their own way, a way I have never seen before." I responded.

Bastiodon nodded very slowly and turned back around. Shedinja and he were testing each others strengths. Bastiodon couldn't damage Shedinja in the slightest. he had stopped short when he tried several steel type moves, which seemed to be the only type of attack he knew.

 **BWEEEEEEEEEN!**

His flash cannon did not affect Shedinja at all, though I had to look away from the bright white beam. It's power was astonishing; even Rayquaza had roared in pain and looked damaged. Shedinja… if he had not been looking, he wouldn't have noticed.

" **Shedinja**."

I nodded at him, and Shedinja opened fire on Bastiodon. The trade off of apparent invulnerability is that his attacks were mediocre at best, particularly compared to Sarah's attacks. However, he still had several types of attacks and could whittle down enemies unless they found some sort of way to beat him.

The only attack I had known him to be beaten by was a flying type move… That had taken him down instantly. I contemplated on whether any attack that hurt him would do so. Tropis had also knocked me out in one hit as well, however.

What else was he weak to? We were trying to learn this.

"Sarah!" I called to the two arguing pokemon, one of which looked up excitedly.

"What is it, Caleb?" she inquired, bounding over to me while Daemyn huffed and went back to trying to blast Charizard out of the air.

"I have reviver seeds ready… Please try to use your array of attacks on Shedinja." I told her.

"You want me to attack Shedinja?" she asked, clearly confused at the notion of attacking her teammate… Again.

"We must discover what attacks he can withstand and which attacks he cannot." I told her "Your techniques are very versatile; I believe that you can provide us with some insight as to how and when to send Shedinja into the line of fire."

"...Okay. Shedinja, are you ready?" Sarah asked the bug ghost, who bobbed up and down. Absol came up to me and looked into my eyes. It was time to learn psycho cut for me.

"One moment." I told him "I need to understand what Shedinja's weaknesses are."

At Absol's nod, I watched as Shedinja came closer to Sarah.

"Let me show off my shadow ball!" Sarah exclaimed and generated the attack once more. I smiled. She was so confident now… When she was like this, I had confidence for our success. Apparently she grew really angry and powerful when I get hurt…

 _Mental note: if anybody gets hurt, let it be me._

I should even be taking hits for Sarah or Shedinja if it gets the girl on such a monstrous rampage. I filed this thought away in my mind for future reference and for strategy.

Sarah smacked the attack towards Shedinja. She almost missed, probably because it was her second time using it properly, but it clipped Shedinja anyhow and sailed away after bouncing off… Followed by Shedinja dropping from the sky and slamming into the ground with a loud **clang**.

"Ghost type moves are a weakness." I noted, bringing forth a reviver seed gingerly held in my teeth. I dropped it on the shell of my friend. I had no idea how to feed a reviver seed to a pokemon with no ability or need to eat anything.

Fortunately, when it touched his shell, it glowed yellow and broke into bits of energy that floated away before flying back into the ghost's body. Shedinja rose again, quickly ready for another go at being torched or blasted or whatever.

Sarah chose her water pulse this time. No effect. However, her flamethrower and razor wind worked fine in bringing him down.

"I see a trend." Absol finally stated, moving forward. I looked to him, and he explained. "Shedinja is a bug and ghost type. So far, attacks that have affected him were those that are super effective against his types."

"What else would he be weak to?" I asked, hoping that not too many other weaknesses were present.

"By this logic, Shedinja would be affected by ghost, rock, fire, dark, and flying moves." Absol told me "Though there are some exceptions I would imagine. Throwing a rock does not have the rock type aura that makes a specific rock type move."

"There are several ways for him to be defeated then." I replied "however, his aptitude for being potentially indestructible could carry us through a battle in certain circumstances."

"True."

" **Shedinja**." Shedinja said, having heard the conversation. He knew what he needed to do in battle.

* * *

Learning how to use Psycho Cut had been a surprisingly easy venture to achieve. It was like my night slash, but psychic. That was just about it, though Absol told me that it would have to do with my night slash being unique and how I had managed to learn the basics far before I ever learned the attack. Even so, my attack typing had grown more diverse again.

The day was ending. Just a few more days before the tournament started, and I was barely feeling tired. Interestingly enough, when we returned for the day and talking as a big group, we received notice from a helpful yellow pokemon with a glowing tail that I was told was an ampharos, accompanied by a frog like pokemon who had it's tongue out at all times, wrapped around him like a scarf.

The notice? That we should rest and recover from training for the next two days before everything began. We were to hang out, talk, have fun. I was actually rather accepting of this. I wouldn't dare get into a wrestling match with anyone, but I could talk freely with the others.

I think Amaterasu was planning a so called 'wrestling' match anyhow, which I would refuse. She seemed dead set on playing with my instincts to the extent that they would not focus on any real person. It was so… odd. I personally thought that she might actually be somewhat infatuated with me or something, at which point I shuddered and denied that as much as I could.

I did **not** need another Sarah around. One is too much.

I wondered now, as I tried to change the topic in my own mind, when Amber was going to tell the others of her human origin. Hopefully she would grow to trust us. There were two humans in our group; there was no need to fear being judged by us.

I looked to Amber, who was speaking with Erza. The poor girls were still spitting out dirt. She seemed to be beginning to trust us and speak with us more. My analytical gaze unnerved her less. Daemyn still unnerved her. She seemed not to like Sarah much. She looked sad whenever she looked at Shedinja.

Finally, I realized that Amber and Sarah were the only ones not speaking together much; Amber even tried to talk to Daemyn on a daily basis since we have known her.

Which is why I had decided that very moment to call her over and have another private talk.

"Amber, may I speak with you for a moment? You may take Charizard with you if you like" I told the little fox, who jumped at my sudden addressing of her. "Uh… Oh! Sure." she eventually answered. I nodded and changed course towards the back of the nearest house while I detected Erza restraining Sarah.

Eventually, I turned back. Charizard had been stomping after us, making our exit rather conspicuous, but I could let that slide. There was no problem; nobody was sneaking up on us.

"W-what did you need?" Amber asked, stammering a bit.

"I wished to know why you don't like Sarah much." I began, and her eyes widened.

"No! No, I didn't mean to insult anybody at all… It's just… She causes you a lot of problems every day. I don't want her to do that to you." she replied.

I blinked. Was this Amber's personality around Sarah, or me? I was uncertain.

"I-... Well, I don't get it. Absol can't help me. I don't know why I have a different reaction to different people automatically." Amber admitted, almost as if she had read my mind on the subject of personality.

"The moment you focus on someone, you feel different emotions and find yourself reacting differently, yes?"

"Well… Yeah." he hesitantly answered.

I had never seen it in person, but I had heard that a condition like hers could manifest itself in many different ways. "Amber, I believe that your condition is known as multiple personality disorder." I told the eevee, who recoiled as I continued "It is not in the sense that I normally understand it; rather it seems to simply change your perception and attitude. Whomever you are focusing on, your perception of the world subconsciously changes. You are friendly around Erza. Daemyn unnerves you. You feel sorry for Shedinja. You are comfortable around Charizard. You find yourself being more of a leader when supported by Absol. Sarah causes a sense of protectiveness, apparently specifically wanting to protect me from her."

Amber was listening to my reasoning. "A… Subconscious based multiple personality disorder?" she asked, eliciting a nod from me.

"What I **don't** know… Is how you react towards me. Around people you do not know, you immediately revert to the mindset of a shy and easily frightened individual. However, towards me, you have no specific reaction. Your reaction towards me is much more varied. I do not understand it."

"I-I don't know either…" Amber murmured, head hanging. I flinched. She thought I wanted her to figure it out for herself.

"It's all right. I'll work on finding this out if you do not want to." I informed the eevee "Just know that it's all right for you to be that way. There is nothing wrong with you as a person."

My assurance seemed to make her brighten. "...Thanks" she murmured, and then there was an awkward moment when we both tried to find something to say when there was nothing to talk about. "Um…" the girl muttered.

"It seems there is little more to speak of." I asserted "I recommend we do not keep the others waiting, despite the fact that we have two days of rest and plenty of time."

"Yeah…" Amber murmured. She waited for my lead as I walked back towards where the others had gone. "I guess it's time to get back to the others…"

The two of us and Charizard made our way back to the others. There were some serious shenanigans going on. Erza was keeping a firm and unyielding grip on Sarah with her vines, at this point half covering the absol as the red absol struggled. Daemyn was unconscious on the ground, the fur on his head messed up pretty badly as Erza had most likely bashed him with her flail.

Jake and Swampert were just watching, and the tangela were giggling, Machoke was off somewhere, and finally, Bastiodon was observing the situation with apparent disapproval. As for Amber and I, we looked absolutely flabbergasted.

"What on earth is going on?" I asked, and the struggle instantly ceased. I frowned at all of them. "Why are you lot fighting?"

"Uhhh... " was the collective answer. I hung my head in defeat.

"Fine, fine. You can knock each other out all you want. Just… Don't cause too much damage, all right?"

"Yes, Caleb."

Erza released Sarah, who barreled towards me immediately. She reminded me a lot of someone who was horribly addicted to a drug or something. What a comparison. I recognized this as I planted my paw on her face, let her crash, and threw her back. I had no time for her shenanigans today.

I marveled at my strength as she flew a good five meters from me. I had been doing my best to do it, but I still was surprised that my strength was far more than it would have been as a human. I might be surprised by that to the end of my days, which at this point would probably be… Eighty-two years if Sarah was being truthful about us absol dying at exactly one hundred years old.

 _Knowing exactly when I am going to die is a strange feeling…_

"Sarah, at least avoid directly touching me, **please**." I begged. I knew it was pointless to act like that, but I gave it a shot anyhow. She was wearing my sanity down.

She said nothing, but at least she didn't jump me again. Erza picked up the unconscious Daemyn and slung the larger pokemon over her shoulder with minimal effort. As she carried the dog-like pokemon along towards town, the rest of us started to follow.

Because of Daemyn's predicament, the trip was rather awkward and silent. I could only hope that the others had something left to talk about once we went to the cafe. I don't know why, but I was warming up to people in general. Talking was becoming more… commonplace for me. It felt odd whenever I really thought about it.

Walking into town showed quite an image. Sarah was covered in dust, Erza had a bigger pokemon unconscious over her shoulder, Amber and I had begun to make some small talk that amounted to nothing with any meaning at all, Bastiodon had taken to walking silently with Machoke, who had joined us.

We were in for quite the afternoon, as it turned out.

When we entered, the cafe looked very, very different for some reason.

One wall had an indent in it, with glowing runes all over it. A certain delphox was in the process of finishing one last rune. We all watched as Goldeneye gave her work a critical eye. I went to greet the magic user I had come to respect. She tended to know what she was doing.

"What is this?" I inquired, stepping forward. Goldeneye looked over to me, expressionless. "Ah, Caleb." she greeted "I have taken it upon myself to improve the stage you used before. I believed it would be easier with some magic circles concerning memory and imagery. Basically, you stand on that circle in the floor and whatever you want to show will appear on the wall."

I peered at said wall, which was covered with a lot of runes, which, to my alarm, began to fade, sinking into the wall. "Goldeneye…" I warned, pointing with a paw.

"It's designed to do that" she informed me immediately "that way, the images on the wall should be unhindered."

"How long have you been working on this?"

"All day" three voices replied. Goldeneye, Goldfinger, and Skyfall were there together, and I had not taken notice of the other two. The two males actually looked more tired than Goldeneye. I suppose that they had less of an interest in magic tricks. The weary two gave me their warm greeting.

"Would you mind testing this out for me?" Goldeneye requested. If it had been built for me… I supposed I would be using it anyhow if it worked.

"Certainly." I replied, jumping onto the stage. I had never seen a more intricate design in the circle I was looking at. It was a double circle. The inside was completely empty. The ring was filled with hundreds of tiny symbols.

I took a deep breath and stepped within the circle. It was a very strange experience. I felt no physical change, but the wall immediately flickered to life in a flash of dozens of images and screens.

It turns out that my thoughts align themselves like computer windows, or perhaps that was simply how I was choosing to view it. I mentally cleared my little screen, and it all went white. It did whatever I wanted it to do.

Goldeneye, however, staggered back. "Amazing... " she muttered, and I noticed that she had yellow screens appearing in front of her as well. I gave her my best disapproving glare. Was she looking into my memories?

The question flashed onto the screen, which startled the delphox. "I apologize." Goldeneye apologized "it was unintentional. I have however learned a lot of things about what you humans have for entertainment."

I blinked. Then, I nodded. "I recommend you stay away from anything concerning the human diet or… Well, just don't pry. There are far too many things that you do **not** want to know about us." I warned.

A nod was my response.

"You… don't care that somebody's in your mind?" Erza asked, confusion evident in her voice.

"As long as nothing is changed or edited, and the one in my mind doesn't traumatize themselves in the process."

"That makes no sense." Daemyn asserted, having awoken at some point. "I would never let anybody into my mind."

"You are correct. It makes no sense. I simply… don't really find myself caring all that much about it. I am uncertain as to why." I admitted.

They looked weirdly at me, until Shedinja appeared in front of me. " **Shedinja** " he monotoned. I got the sense that he was worried about me.

"I believe I will be fine." I assured the ghost. He hesitated before fading away once more. There was a strange feeling in my armor covered chest. These people cared for me, cared for my health. My crimes did not matter to them; I was their friend.

 _They are my friends._

I kept my face impassive and concentrated on learning to use my new tool. Did I want to be in front of a bunch of people? Not really. Was this my new obligation? Yes. People expected me to do this because they were curious about the human world.

 _And Goldeneye went to an entire day's worth of effort to make it._

Why did people cater to me so much? I don't deserve it. Maybe I needed to move on, but being celebrated simply felt… wrong.

I had to make a lesson plan of sorts. I needed to understand what I had to teach these people. All sorts of things, really. I wondered how many people would fall asleep if I started to give a math lesson. Perhaps that could be a test for me to do.

Considering I had not gotten to calculus yet just because of the amount of time I have been able to spent in school, I just had to stick to what I knew from precalculus.

 _Or… start with the basics. I don't even know if they know order of operations or exponents. Maybe not even that._

But what did I know? Nothing about the limits of pokemon. Psychic pokemon seemed to be smarter; most likely they could figure out the kinds of things that I had to teach them and more.

I looked to my new screen and made equations and formulas flash over it, pretending to be a teacher with a whiteboard. I could make images of notes appear and work show up. I could act like a teacher. I was unlikely to be as effective as someone who was an official. On the other hand, being official and professional was my specialty.

"Thank you very much, Goldeneye, for spending so much time working on this. I admit that I had been surprised when I learned you had put so much work into effect for me." I told the delphox.

"You are very welcome. Now, I think these two" she replied, gesturing to her mate and adopted son "need some rest."

"Yes. They do." I noted, again looking at the two. Goldfinger was patiently waiting for Goldeneye to finish her job, but he had bags under his eyes. Skyfall had decided that a hardwood table looked like an excellent bed.

I went back to learning how to use my mind screen. I needed to be prepared for tonight. I turned to the others.

"If I am expected to be back up here tonight, and I expect I am, I need to learn how to use this. You all can do as you want."

"Wait, Caleb, you're not going to hang out at all?" Daemyn asked. I thought about it. They wanted me to be with them. I should feel flattered. I was used to forgoing social interaction to do my work, but was that the correct course of action?

Probably not. Not when I actually had friends to be with.

"...Let me get the basics down, and then we can go. I can learn how to use it in detail tonight." I compromised, and Daemyn grinned in response as Erza nodded at me. They went ahead and waited while I tried to comprehend why some of my edits were not working properly at certain points of my screen.

⽕ **Sarah's POV** ⽕

Caleb lost track of time learning how to use his new toy.

He did all sorts of math shenanigans, and I marveled at how he had the smarts of a psychic type. He wrote completely unintelligible equations on the board that I hadn't even heard of. None of us that were there had any idea what he meant by exponent, and a bunch of other things he said.

In fact, I'm pretty sure I was not the only person completely and utterly lost as Caleb did his math portion of his testing. My future mate was unbelievably smart.

 _Shouldn't I wait for Caleb to agree before I label him as… Nah, he'll agree. Eventually._

Then Caleb proceeded to make words appear in certain orders. By this point he was actually enjoying himself. Caleb had a smile on his face as he wrote an entire short story. I had seen how big the books he wrote in his dream were; he would be pretty good at writing if his paws did not even have proper toes.

He was going to continue with other topics when Erza cleared her throat. Caleb froze in an instant.

He spun to face us all. "Sorry!" he practically yelped. I had never seen him like this. He had been so excited about those scarily long and complex mathematical problems. He liked solving them, I guess.

"You enjoy solving problems." Erza noted "makes sense to me."

"Yeah… But that's just… Weird." Daemyn continued.

I smacked him over the head with my paw. "Be nice to Caleb!"

"I expected him to get in my face like we usually do to each other, but he just started and hung his head. "Sorry…" he mumbled. I jolted at his very un-Daemyn response.

Caleb jumped down from the stage. He regained his professional expression. "It is quite all right, Daemyn." he responded "This is not the first time I have been labeled something as tame as 'weird'. It will hardly be the last."

Then he gave a small smile. He must have been much happier doing something he knew how to do one hundred percent. I smiled at him in return. Seeing him happy sent a rush of happiness through me as well.

I **loved** it when he smiled.

"Where do you all want to go?"

His question had the others and I blanking, because we had put absolutely no thought into it at all. Caleb looked each and everyone in the eye, and then sweatdropped. "You lot don't have a clue where you wanted to go, do you." he deadpanned. It wasn't even a proper question.

"Uh…" I mumbled, ashamed for disappointing him. I hoped he wasn't **too** disappointed.

"Well…" Daemyn muttered, comprehension dawning on his face.

"I thought we could…" Erza continued, trailing off.

"I don't know what's around here. S-sorry." Amber apologized.

"..." Jake said absolutely nothing, rubbing his head with his left paw, near the area behind the ears.

And then there was silence.

"Well… We have done plenty of walking around and making conversation." Caleb began "I have essentially run out of things to discuss… things that I don't want to save for everyone on stage, which would be my secondary obligation, or things that could either terrify you or bore you to the point of unconsciousness."

I noticed how he avoided using the word 'death'.

Caleb began to consider his options. "It is nearing the time that we would enter this place normally. Because I will be teaching others about seemingly random things for much of the night using this new and excellent tool to help demonstrate what I speak of… Perhaps it would be best for me to get my drink a bit earlier. Even if there is nothing to speak of we can still have our drinks and such." he offered.

"Sounds like a **great** idea!" I complimented my love, and he gave me a short nod while the others gave their assent. Caleb reached into the bag at his left shoulder, bringing out two pouches with his teeth at once. He quickly checked the pouches and closed one, flipping it to me with his paw. I caught it and gave him a few blinks that were supposed to be cute. Having sky blue eyes should help massively.

It didn't. Not today.

The pouch Caleb had given me had the foods I typically used in my drink. Erza and Daemyn perked up once they realized what it was.

"Ohhh, **that's** why you're always ready before us." Daemyn realized "You have the stuff for your drinks at all times. Got it."

"We'll just… Get our stuff real quick." Erza said, and the two pokemon and their teams departed to get their food. Amber had said nothing, and had simply allowed Charizard to fly them to where they were going.

Then Jake snickered. "I figured it out a few days ago." he claimed, raising a few bags in his left paw. I had always figured he must be left pawed, and the evidence was continuing to mount. Caleb nodded to him. I had always gotten the feeling that Jake and Caleb had very little of a relationship. Jake didn't speak much, and neither did Swampert. They were just… around. They still counted as friends, but they were not as obvious as the others to Caleb and I.

We waited for ten minutes before the others came back, panting. They had been so quick and grabbing their stuff for some reason. Neither Caleb nor I had any clue. "Why are you guys breathing so hard?" I asked "Did you… really sprint all the way there?"

"Yeah…" Daemyn answered before all of us heard a loud **thump** outside, and Charizard came down the stairs, followed closely by the much smaller Amber.

While the rest of Amber's team entered the place, Charizard gave us all a warning. "There's a freaking horde of pokemon on their way the the cafe. Word got out that the human is here and is willing to do another one of his shows, and they're **coming**."

Caleb blinked. "Well, they will have to wait until I have finished my drink. That, and they will have to handle the fact that I will take my time." he asserted, walking over to give Spinda the items for his drink and promptly warned her about the situation.

The rest of us quickly followed and took our seat before everything chaotic happened, as we heard a struggle going on above us. "Sound's like they're having fun…" Mightyena muttered, and I nodded my assent.

"They had better not be fighting up there." Erza said, tossing the ball end of her flail up in the air with one leafy hand. She seemed not to have any trouble with the weight of the thing, the weight I felt regularly now when Daemyn and I had a little argument.

 _Okay, sometimes it was a heated argument, emphasis on_ _ **heated**_ _._

But it was more of a game we played now. Bashing heads, tossing meaningless insults, Daemyn constantly avoiding offending me too much. It was more of a reason to spar. To be honest, I had no idea why it was that way between us. If he hated me before, he should still hate me, right?

Erza seemed to be a part of the game as well. She would hide a smirk as everything crashed down around Daemyn and I courtesy of her flail. At this point, it was just… our thing as friends.

We were all sipping our drinks and trying to act casual as pokemon started filing into the doorway, some grumbling, some looking excited, some trying to act casual, but failing. the collective thought: " _What is the human absol going to teach us today?"_ Was practically erupting from them.

"Look alive." Daemyn told Caleb, quietly so that the others couldn't hear save our little group. He could do this because he was right next to him today.

"T-there's so many of them…" Amber shied away from the approaching group.

"They'll have to wait. People don't like waiting." I said.

"That they don't." Erza agreed.

"I am incapable of succumbing to peer pressure." Caleb replied confidently, and took another small, **really** small amount of his drink.

I observed the characters coming into the place. Among the people we had seen the other day, there were some newcomers that stood out and a **lot** of pokemon that were among the crowd. The people we had met the other day were all here and were ordering things, and would make it to their tables. Some of—no, several pokemon would have to go without a table or leave.

Some of the people who stood out were the two we had spoken two, the silent greninja and the talkative and joyful ampharos with that flower on her that I recognized as the type of flower that I had seen on sky peak.

There was also a shaymin, with a small pouch on him and a badge signaling him out as a solo explorer, who managed to make the tiny harmless shaymin look appear older and wiser. He did not order anything, and calmly sat down.

Team Destiny Bond was still around, though Goldeneye was the only one awake at this time. How she managed to stay awake was a complete mystery to me, considering the other two were out like a light. Braixen was sticking near them; she did admire the powerful magic user.

Another couple who stood out was an arcanine and a houndoom. The arcanine had electric yellow bands just above the tufts of fur around his ankles. The female houndoom had a tightly tied necklace that was instead tied around the end of her tail, and hanging from the loop was a silver colored feather on her right, a rainbow colored feather on her left, and a bell hanging straight down.

Those two stood out to me because the arcanine was looking straight at Vulnona, who was with Redmond, in a way I **instantly** recognized. I wore that look sometimes, when I was not in a good state of mind and was willing to do anything to get Caleb to be with me.

 _That… could lead to confrontation._

the houndoom saw this as well, and hesitated with a pained look I **also** instantly recognized, the look I wore when I came close to accepting that Caleb would not fall in love with me and trying to convince myself otherwise.

"Singe…" the houndoom murmured quietly to the arcanine, who barely looked back, "You know… She's with Redmund, right? Can't… Can't you just let her go? Every time you see her, you get involved in a confrontation with Redmund." she reminded Singe.

"Not for long." Singe muttered. The houndoom sighed slowly, looking defeated. The houndoom flicked her tail to snag the straps of some small bags that clearly held the ingredients for drinks. She motioned for Singe to follow, but I watched the arcanine haughtily walk towards team Eternal Flame.

I looked to Caleb and gestured towards them. This was something that we should probably interrupt. He followed my gaze, and saw the confrontation already beginning. Apparently, this had happened before, because team Eternal Flame had quite the immediate reaction to seeing the large fire type bearing down on them.

Caleb took another drink and got up. His face twisted for a moment into a strange expression as he looked at his drink, and then got back into focus and walked across the room.

"That drink taste weird?" I asked, catching up to him.

"No, I just remembered the cliche about bar fights where the character takes a drink before getting involved. This is obviously different in many ways; there is no alcohol, I am hoping to avoid physical combat here, and this is **not** a movie or book."

"Movie? And what the heck is alcohol?"

"Something I will never, **ever** let you drink. As for the movie, that is part of my lesson plan if there is time." Caleb replied.

And then we were on the scene.

"Singe." Redmund said stiffly. Vulnona's tails were flicking, either in apprehension or annoyance. Blutarch, who normally argued with his brother, was also glaring at the approaching arcanine. The moronic and arrogant fire type had eight pokemon against him, all so that he could try and seduce a ninetails… who was already freaking taken. Not to mention a ninetails that happened to have a **kid**. The bugger.

I know, I know, I'm a freaking hypocrite. Even so, I wouldn't try to take Caleb away from somebody if he already had a mate and kid. I wasn't **that** bad. That would defeat me.

 _Though I probably_ _ **would**_ _go through an army of pokemon, half of which had a type advantage on me if Caleb was on the other side and free of relationships._

At that thought, I tried to consider whether I would be able to handle it if Caleb wound up with somebody else. Could I actually handle it? Would I be like Singe here, trying to get to him anyways? Why could I never really get him off of my mind?

 _Questions for another day._

I had lost track of the conversation, but eventually it had gotten bad. There was preparation for a fight on all fronts.

"Enough."

All conversation in the entire freaking room shut down instantly. Caleb's effect was amazing. His voice was so calm and authoritative, and he can make it carry without really being so loud. Everyone looked to my beloved as he advanced on the scene.

He addressed Singe first. "This is pitiful. From the cues I viewed from afar, it would seem that this is not your first time attempting to win Vulnona over. Perhaps you should be reminded that Vulnona has a mate at this time… and a **child**?"

We all froze. Caleb had grown slightly angry at that last word. I guess her having a child already made Singe's actions worse to the both of us.

"Truly, she has a mate **and** a child, and you would attempt to take that relationship apart? I cannot understand even attempting to separate two people who already have made their decision. Pitiful." Caleb continued. The direct insult was unlike him, but he did have a look in his eye that had some of the others nearby worry for the health of the arcanine.

"What did you call me?" Singe growled, turning on him. Caleb looked the much larger pokemon right in the eye.

"I did not directly call you anything. Your actions are pitiful, and by extension, you make yourself appear just as pitiful." Caleb informed him.

Singe growled at him, and I caught the eye of the houndoom, who was watching with a reserved and pained expression. I motioned for her to come over. While she came towards me, I readied myself to blast this stupid fire type across the room with a water pulse

While Singe tried to out talk Caleb (a pathetically pointless venture), the houndoom came up to me. She was quite shy, as she showed when she hesitated to talk to me.

"What is your name?"

"...Twilight." she answered hesitantly.

"That is your team leader, yes?" I asked as the houndoom nervously flicked her tail, making the bell ring.

"...Yes. Singe is the leader of my team, and…" she murmured.

"I get it. Don't worry." I assured her, causing Twilight to look at me strangely. "I mean, I understand what it's like when somebody doesn't or refuses to notice you."

Twilight blinked and looked to where Caleb was again shutting Singe down verbally. "Him?" she asked, gesturing towards the love of my life.

"Yeah. Caleb."

"Its.. It's different." Twilight told me.

"How so?"

"Because… It looks like Caleb is already dealing with things correctly. Singe… He never let Vulnona go, and it's driving him to do all of these things and begin to act this way… He never used to be like that. He used to be so happy and carefree. I want to help him, but… I don't know how." Twilight practically didn't say it, considering she was so quiet that I was barely able to hear her from right next to her.

I smiled. "I saved Caleb once. He had just failed to go home, his only chance. He intended to be separate from the rest of the world, and so he put himself to sleep so that nobody could bother him. He would have stayed asleep until he starved. I didn't let him. I jumped straight into his dream and got him to act sensibly… After he was done attacking me."

Shaken out of her normal quiet personality for just a split second, she looked completely incredulous. She got rid of the expression and seemed to think for a while. "I guess… it must be possible then." Twilight murmured.

"You just have to work at it. He'll come around." I assured the houndoom. Her eyes had a certain bit of confidence in them. Pep talk: success. I smiled. "Boys eventually come around."

 _Caleb will come around._

Pep talk: Success.

Singe was blowing steam. Literally. Caleb looked calm as ever and the rest of the pokemon present were looking on in an awe of sorts.

"Please leave Vulnona alone." Caleb requested "Save yourself the difficulty. You are hardly being ignored; pay attention once in awhile. You might be surprised who is there to help you."

Singe snarled but said nothing for a bit. He had lost. He stormed away, and straight out of the cafe. Before anybody could say anything, Spinda came around with the drinks for team Alpha. "Oh dear." she asked as she danced over "Will you two be leaving?"

"I… I guess so. If I can't get him to come back." Twilight murmured, and then she walked away. There was still quiet for a while, before the ninetails turned to Caleb.

"Thank you for getting rid of him." the told Caleb. He nodded in return.

"I have serious doubts that this will be the last time he confronts you, not matter how much logic I have introduced to the situation." Caleb told them.

Redmund however was adamant about thanking him. "Hey, you got rid of that terrible guy. Just accept the thank you, right?"

Caleb was taken aback. He didn't want to accept that he was responsible for helping. "Well…" He began, but Vulnona flicked her tails.

"Just say 'you're welcome" she told him. "Modesty is pointless here. He has been a hassle, and I intend to be indebted to you."

"Really, I do not require a reward of any kind-" Caleb protested, now backing up. He turned and tried to make a dignified exit. He almost hid the idea that he was fleeing the scene, but somehow, he had been shaken. Why oh why did he insist on not being thanked?

I gave another glance to the stunned teams before I jumped to be with him. "Caleb, what's wrong? Why don't you want to be thanked?"

"I am… Not used to being thanked." Caleb admitted "it is… an odd feeling. I have abandoned my family, a crime in it's own right. Being thanked feels very… wrong."

"Caleb!" I exclaimed. "Don't say that! You're no criminal. You're the best person I know. Everyone else would have sat and watched the whole thing. You didn't. You're a good person!"

Caleb looked into my eyes, his own eyes tired, looking practically… overused. "I abandoned my family, left them to believe I had died. I am not a good person, Sarah."

"That's not true!"

Caleb walked on. He didn't believe me.

Caleb finished his drink over the next thirty minutes. Nobody really bothered him about him taking his time. He seemed tired enough. Eventually, just before he was going to do his little show, someone sneaked up on him. Kemuri, the little vulpix daughter of Vulnona and Redmund, literally popped up right next to Caleb, her paws on the table.

Caleb looked down at her. "Yes?" he inquired.

Kemuri had a no-nonsense look on her face that did not fit a child. Caleb noticed this, I got the subtle cue of his that he was noticing something new.

"Why don't you want mom and dad to thank you?" she asked of Caleb. I thought that he would be more closed off than when he spoke to me, but he surprised me.

"I am simply unused to being thanked. I wouldn't dare think I deserve any thanks."

"But you helped! You stopped Singe!"

"That I did. My reasoning still stands… Something I would not prefer to discuss." Caleb told the little girl "Now, do your parents know you are here talking to me?"

"Yes."

Caleb looked at her.

"...No."

"I suggest you go back to them before they start wondering where you are." Caleb suggested.

Kemuri gave him a last look, and decided that she had lost. She was out of there. Caleb took one last drink, before standing up and walking casually over to the stage. The place went quiet as Caleb leapt up to the stage and walked over to his spot on the side of the screen.

People gasped as the wall lit up white. "Hello, everyone." Caleb began. Murmurs sprang up among the crowd. Everything was kicking off!

"'Bout time." somebody muttered, a comment which both Caleb and I ignored.

Things started flashing across the screen of all types as Caleb relearned how to use it quickly. "All right. I am prepared. I am going to start this evening's discussion with something different than last time. What would people like me to talk about?"

Instantly, voices arose.

"Tell us about the human world!" was the most commonly requested one. Caleb flinched.

"That is… an extremely general topic. What do you want to know: impressive landscape features that are well known? Technological advancements? math or other school topics? Entertainment-No, we'll do that later."

The crowd wanted to know about what the landscape was like. And everything else, but Caleb started with that. "Our world is very large. About two-thirds of the planet is ocean, but there is enough landmass to support the seven billion humans that live on the planet." he began.

Whispers. "Seven billion?", "Daddy, what is a billion?", "That is… impressive."

"Now, interestingly enough, there is still a lot of the world that has a lot of wilderness. However, the greatest things around to see are things like Mt. Everest. The tallest mountain on the planet. Much higher than the mountains around here. Sky peak is much smaller than it." Caleb continued.

"It must be quite impressive." the older shaymin with his explorer badge noted.

"Impressive, and dangerous." Caleb reminded them "it is very difficult to breath at such an elevation. It is also incredibly cold. being that high can be a hazard to your health, but apparently, the view is quite impressive. I unfortunately have never been to the place myself."

After Caleb went and inadvertently removed all sense of fun at the idea of climbing the highest human mountain, he launched into a list and details of several wonders of the world. There were pyramids that humans of old times left, though apparently it had been a slave work thing.

"Oi! Caleb! Positive!" Daemyn barked at Caleb, who jolted.

"Right. I apologize. I will try to speak of the good things about what I speak of." Caleb responded, hanging his head.

Caleb continued, images of impressive places and beautiful landscapes. He showed us wonderful waterfalls and images of pyramids and all sorts of other pretty places. It was impressive how many places there were that Caleb knew of and showed us.

"The major way to get across the world is with the technological advancements that we have devised." Caleb began again, "Humans cannot fly, so we built airplanes." An image of what must be an airplane appeared in the center of the screen. "With the shape of the wing and providing that there is enough speed, the air pressure above the wings is lower than the air pressure below. Because gasses always move to equalize the air pressure, this mechanic provides lift. That airplane is built out of metal, and carries quite a bit of people." he explained.

"That thing is **metal**!?" one of the people behind me exclaimed. "I mean, skarmories can fly, and they're metal, but that thing is **huge**!"

"Impressive." Another person said.

"Planes are simply for travel." Caleb explained as the picture (and all of the red colored notes written around the plane to describe that air pressure thing Caleb was going on about.) vanished. "This phenomenon is also why a bird can fly. Their wings must be a certain shape, and must be able to create that slight air pressure difference to fly. If it did not work like that, winged creatures could not fly at all."

This news caught the attention of certain flying types. They were talking about how glad they were that… whatever he was talking about worked. I mean, I knew what he was saying, but they hadn't. Most of the pokemon hadn't. However, there was a psychic type with a charizard and tyranitar with him that was nodding. Some other psychic types were listening.

"As I said, planes are simply for physical travel. There are much faster ways to connect to the rest of the world." Caleb told us. Images of devices filled the screens, some overlapping each other and in small 'windows'. "Computers are extremely useful tools for communication and work. Using an electronic connection and radio signals and such, nearly instantaneous communication can be initiated with people across the world.

"A-across the world!?"

"instantaneous!?"

"They also allow people to work. In the human world, you need to work to feed yourself, basically. To help do this, in many jobs, humans will use computers to make their jobs much easier. You can write up things and make programs and design other pieces of technology. You could even play games on a computer."

"You need work… to eat? As in, you can't just gather food?" someone asked.

"There is an entire economy system. You need to work to earn money, and you need money to buy food. Saying any more would be going against the 'positive' element I am attempting to deal with." he informed the person who had spoken.

There were many an "oh." from the crowd before Caleb continued. "Many devices are devised for simplicity. They make things easier for everyone. Phones, for example, allow you to call one another. In the simplest of terms, you speak into the phone, and the person at the other end, possibly on the other side of the continent or even the world, will hear it and can speak back."

While people marveled at that tidbit, Caleb continued. "Those phones, the newer ones, are also capable of many things through programs that can be added to the system, that allows a variety of things to be done. You can answer messages in other ways than the phone feature, can play games, and do many other things that could take a very long time to explain."

I was more in awe that Caleb was so knowledgeable, but I was about to be so, so much more in awe when he started going on about mathematics. "Mathematics is an important aspect of life for humans, as many algorithms are involved in devices and explaining natural phenomenon."

Then, **equations** started filling the screen, scrolling across as Caleb made it scroll across in an interesting display. "How many here know what an exponent is?" Caleb inquired, bringing up a picture of a number, the number three, with a small number three above it and two the right.

There were a few nods of assent from the psychic types, specifically the alakazam near the back. Caleb looked at the large amounts of looks of confusion, and decided to continue. "How many of you understand the workings for multiplication?"

A few more voices mentioning their confirmation, though some were shifting, uncomfortable. Caleb and I noticed.

"I apologize. I did not intend to make some uncomfortable. That was very insensitive of me." Caleb apologized, hanging his head for a moment. The screen flickered, and a bunch of words appeared and faded from the screen. Apologies filled the screen for a moment before Caleb brought it back under control.

"An exponent over a word, like the small three over the larger three, is the amount of times you multiply a number by itself. Three to the third power is three times three times three." Caleb explained "To multiply a number, you are taking that number and adding it to itself as many times as the other number specifies. For example, three times three is three plus three plus three, just as three to an exponent is three times three times three."

A set of numbers made a pyramid formation on the screen. Three 'cubed' equaled three times three equals three plus three plus three plus three plus three plus three plus three plus three plus three. Suddenly, it all makes sense. We could all do basic addition. There was reason to do that.

Caleb's next hour got more and more complicated. When he started talking about the early stages of calculus and proceeded to teach people to sleep on how to 'find equations for a tangent lines on a curved line based equation, and the weird 'H's that he put everywhere on the screen in the middle of his math lesson.

He lost me somewhere around graphing complex equations, but I was doing my best to help. At this point, only the alakazam and a metagross that had entered halfway through were nodding. Goldeneye was nodding at some points and looking a bit confused at other times.

"Why are any number with an H near them being nullified at the end?"

"Because the final number is that when h grows close to zero." Caleb explained "And that number is a part of the final equation." Caleb then began to explain how to then calculate the equation for the linear 'tangent line'.

Daemyn was flat out dizzy. "I don't get it…." he muttered, eyes swirls. Half of the room was sound asleep. Caleb was continuing.

"That is as far as I am capable in terms of mathematics. I did not take a calculus course, being sent here before I could go to my next year of high school. However, I had read up on the mathematics up to that point in the curriculum on my free time."

"You… You spent time on that… Your free time? How bored were you?" Erza asked, blinking.

"Quite.

"I think it's very impressive!" I exclaimed, coming forward. There were much of a 'of course' sigh behind me that I heard. I sensed Amber also coming forward. There was a surge of unwarranted jealousy. On the other hand, Caleb **had** had a private conversation with her. Did he like her? Amber had seems more content afterwards.

I shook that off. Caleb never showed any liking to anybody at all. he could be hiding it, but that put me on the potential list as well. I just needed to play his instincts, right?

"It seems my audience is having a nap." Caleb commented, sweatdropping. Amber and I did the same as we realized that he was just noticing.

"I-... I was much more awake while you were going through the more basic math. It was like it was… filling in the blanks." Amber told him. Filling in the blanks? What did that mean?

"I am glad to hear it." Caleb responded.

"Hey," I said in a slightly seductive manner "You were brilliant."

Caleb looked at me evenly, just as he does everyone else. Did he like me? His expression of stone so rarely broke that I could not tell who he liked and how much. That was part of his charm really. One look, and I can tell who likes whom normally.

"Thank you." he replied, his voice monotone.

Then he turned his attention back to Amber. "You began to understand as if you had known the information?" he clarified.

"Uh… Yeah." Amber replied "Though you lost me when you got to what you called precalculus."

"You lost **everyone** when you got to precalculus." Erza clarified, walking up.

"How old are you?" Caleb asked the eevee. He almost said more, but he stopped.

"What's going on?" I asked, confused and quite suspicious. Erza had a similar expression to mine. Caleb suddenly flinched, but Amber quickly tapped her paw on the ground.

"It's all right. It's about time I said something." she told him. Caleb looked ashamed about something, but he nodded and waved a paw in a 'go ahead then' gesture.

Amber took a deep breath, and I noticed the massive (and usually loud) Charizard had snuck up on us, overshadowing the eevee in a protective manner. Absol was behind me, and Magnezone was away, looking as though ready to defend her. What on earth was so earth shattering that they thought we of all people would attack her?

"O-Okay…" Amber mumbled once all of us were giving her our attention and were close enough for her to whisper. "Thing is… I haven't been an eevee for longer than a year and a half."

 _Whaaaaat?_

Jake blinked as if struck. "You… Ohhhhh!" he realized. I was still in the dark though.

Erza was looking at Amber with interest. "I see." she murmured to herself "It's surprising, but really not that surprising."

Amber flinched. "It's… Not?" she asked. I blinked and glared at everyone but Caleb. Even Daemyn seemed to be getting it.

"Of course not. You guys are known for stopping the meteor from crashing into your continent, which would have caused quite a bit of damage." Erza explained "And there's only one team from over there that has a well known person just appear out of nowhere. Basically, we probably could have figured out if we really wanted to spend the time snooping. We didn't, of course. it was your business."

"Caleb would probably have gotten it within an hour if he had lived here all his life." Daemyn complimented the absol.

"My knowledge and mental fortitude comes from a formal education in the human world." Caleb "I do not intend offence, but being born here would have resulted in a completely different being."

Caleb's reasoning got nods from everyone, and then the attention turned back to Amber. "W-well…" Amber muttered, quailing at all of the eyes on her.

"Amber… It is quite all right. I believe all of us are willing and able to refrain from changing our opinions of you based on who you are. All that shall change between us is the knowledge of your past, which most of us seem to have grasped." Caleb assured the girl. Erza nodded, and the rest of us followed suit. I knew I would not be doing any judging at the moment, so I nodded as well. That part I understood.

"Well, if you haven't figured it out already… I'm a lot like Jake. I woke up in the woods with no memory besides the fact that my name was Amber and that… I had been human before."

 _My head is swimming…_

Amber was shaking a little. Caleb was the one to comfort her, something I noticed immediately. "Amber, I promise I will never take your humanity into account when it comes to my confidence in you if we need you in battle, or truly at all. I promise you that being different from most of the people here will not cause us to treat you differently."

Everyone, including me, echoed the promise. It was kind of like a pact or something. Amber looked much more confident around us for the next few seconds. "So that's three humans, now." Daemyn commented.

"Amber has not been as affected by her memory loss as Jake has." Caleb informed us "It is evident that she learned several things through formal schooling. How old are you, Amber?"

"Uh… Sixteen? Maybe seventeen? I… well, I don't really know," Amber hung her head.

"Amber's progress in understanding my speech regarding mathematics halted at precalculus, and her age seems to reflect this fact." Caleb finished.

"You're a human like us then!" Jake exclaimed "That's great! The more the merrier!"

Jake's sudden outburst was unlike him. However, the surprise was short lived. Caleb's head turned as he evidently sensed something. I paid attention as well to find three pokemon behind us, two rather large.

I whirled as the one in front said: "Yes. She is.", probably in response to Jake's comment about being a human. Something about the alakazam in front of me had me slightly apprehensive. He had a charizard and a tyranitar following him. Amber's charizard friend outsized this charizard by a foot, but both looked quite menacing compared to each other.

Speaking of menacing, Charizard had stepped in front of Amber instantly and growled at the three of them while Amber hid. Absol was giving them quite the glare, and Magnezone was also guarding her. I wondered who these jokers were.

There were glares between the two teams, and Caleb stepped forward. "Hello. Who might you be?" he asked politely, walking past Charizard.

the alakazam looked down at my love with an inquisitive eye. "Ah. Caleb, was it? An impressive mind you have there. I was unaware that pokemon other than psychic pokemon would have such an impressive aptitude for mathematics."

"With all due respect, that would change if the psychic types were to take the time to teach other pokemon the basics of mathematics. I am certain that you and other psychic types are capable of such an action." Caleb answered. Despite the fact that he was calm, it was clear that he was put off by the group.

Alakazam was slightly taken aback at this. "Yes… I suppose that is true." he muttered, and continued. "You are human, yes?"

"Was. I have been transformed into an absol, as is evident." Caleb replied.

"Yes. I assume it is your human origin that allowed you to understand this information?"

"I received a formal education, as human children are required to experience, and due to the fact that I had not lost my memory like the others have, I was able to retain that useful information. Amber, and I am certain you know her, considering their rather hostile reaction towards you, has an interesting scenario surrounding her memory, allowing her to recognize and sometimes habitually think of things that pertain to her memory. Jake here, responsible for saving time along with Swampert, has completely lost his memory."

"I see." Alakazam replied, and gave each of his teammates a look. "Well, I believe we have more to do to prepare for the tournament. Best of luck." The psychic walked away, followed by his larger teammates.

Caleb looked to Amber. "I assume that these three are not to be trusted?"

"I-it's not that…" Amber stammered, peeking out from behind Charizard's massive tail "They're a good rescue team, and good at fighting…"

"They don't like Amber 'cause she's different. Because she's human and has special abilities." Charizard interrupted.

Caleb froze.

 _Oh… Shit._

I could not have been the only one of us who thought it. A good portion of us knew all about Caleb's absolute hatred for racism. "They… Treat you improperly because of this?" Caleb asked slowly. Amber glanced at all of us, and even I quickly and surreptitiously sent Amber as much of a message as we could: " _Please don't add any flame to this cold and dangerous fire."_

Amber, not the type to be dense and even understood most of the mathematics that Caleb was spouting, did **not** catch the message. We all took metaphorical cover as she said "Well… Yeah. They don't hurt me or anything, but where I'm from, the place where I woke up, they didn't like that I was… different."

Not only had she put team ACT on Caleb's bad list, she managed to put every pokemon from her region on that list as well. We might have to constrain him. "They didn't hurt you at all?" I practically pleaded.

"There was a ghost type who really didn't like me… He invaded my dream once and attacked." Amber kept feeding fuel to the fire. Caleb's eyes flashed dangerously.

"Ooookay! Time to diffuse this." Erza suddenly said, jumping up, weapons ready "Caleb, let's not do anything rash-"

"They would dare make such assumptions of character based on your origin?" Caleb growled, and Amber realized her mistake finally. Erza started twirling her flail in case Caleb bolted off to deal some real damage.

"Uh…" Amber stammered, and Absol surreptitiously got between Caleb and the door. Shedinja did as well. "C-caleb?"

"Idiot, you're scaring her." Daemyn gave Caleb a smack, beating Erza to the punch. Caleb looked at him, and took a few deep breaths. I sighed with relief. Caleb was **not** going to blow up with destructive force. He had restrained himself when Daemyn had done it and when that absol from back home had, but he looked much closer to troublemaking when it came to Amber. Perhaps it was because he was protective of the scared and human eevee.

"...I… Apologize" Caleb told the eevee, catching the breath he had been holding.

 _Crisis averted…_

"It's… All right. You… Well, it's obvious you care." Amber replied. Caleb and I blinked at her response. She seemed much less frightened of him in general. I assume that he gave her confidence. How did I feel about that? I was reaching the conclusion that Caleb was more likely to like Amber than me. I felt extremely very not good about it. I was going to lose.

I don't like losing.

Caleb was mine. He **would** be mine. I would not take no for an answer. It didn't seem as if anything had started between the two of them… Yet. It simply appeared as though Caleb trusted her more than he trusted me. To be honest, I was forced to admit he had a good point.

I wasn't really trustworthy. I was the one who would drag him away from likely helpful relationships because I couldn't bear the thought of being with anybody but him. Shame on me. Oh well.

It was then that Goldeneye and her family and team interrupted. "Excuse me, Caleb." the delphox requested.

Caleb turned his attention to her, having calmed himself down. "Yes?"

"I wished to play that game of chess once more before you depart for the guild tonight." Goldeneye told him "I have decided on multiple ways to advance in the game, and feel that I could provide much more of a challenge to you at this time. Because of my accidental glimpse towards your different manners of entertainment, I also have several ideas for the future."

Skyfall mumbled something, rubbing his eyes with his claws. He then spoke louder. "Mom's got all these ideas for magic stuff she's going to be working on all day tomorrow. I swear she never needs sleep." Skyfall mumbled. Goldfinger nodded in response to this while Caleb immediately began to protest her spending so much time and energy on him when she had already done so much.

"Rubbish. You're always spending your energy helping others. Why, I saw you head that arcanine off with words alone." Goldeneye interrupted his ramblings.

"Crushing logic does not take all day to perform!" Caleb refuted.

"Enough. Do you wish to play another game of chess?"

"Our earthbending user is currently asleep as a result of my mathematics lesson. Really, I expected at least half of my class to remain awake. However, that is me quoting my math teacher. He spoke in a sarcastic manner, as we were simply tired, not asleep, but it still fits in this scenario." Caleb said

"...Earthbending?"

"Earth power. Whatever you call it. There was a fictional story back home where characters could move the ground with ease in the process of utilizing martial arts and other combat skills. It was called earthbending. It's much the same here. You lot call it earth power." Caleb explained.

"We may not have him, but I was able to enchant the board before. I could easily make another enchantment to recreate the scenario where it existed and play off of that." Goldeneye went on with more magical shenanigans that had Caleb reeling. That's right; magic didn't exist in his world.

While Goldeneye was doing her thing, conversation had started among the still awake pokemon in the place. They went on to watch as Caleb and Goldeneye began their second game of chess, hopefully proving to be much more eventful than the last one.

"You may begin."

Goldeneye tapped her indentation that meant a knight and moved it ahead of her pawns. Caleb instantly pushed a pawn forward into its line of fire. This time, Goldeneye hesitated and viewed Caleb with a critical eye.

"Queen…" she muttered, not moving her night to take the pawn, as Caleb's queen happened to be stationed right behind it and would take out the knight in an instant.

 _Since when do I know chess? Oh wait, Caleb explained the rules. Am I capable of such a game? Particularly against Caleb? Not against Caleb, no. Maybe I could smoke Daemyn at it. haha, 'smoke'. Anyways…_

Goldeneye instead moved a pawn in preparation for something, and Caleb immediately frowned. "That is… problematic." he admitted, moving another piece.

From that point, I was lost. The game was the slowest type of chaos imaginable. However, Caleb stopped frowning soon enough and Goldeneye started frowning more. "I had not seen that coming…" Goldeneye murmured, apparently Caleb's little fake out with that bishop had done it's job. She moved her rook into position, and the next move would allow her to endanger the king, or that's how I understood it.

 _Notice it, Caleb!_

Caleb started moving the wrong piece. Goldeneye got a slight smirk on her face. She hid it when Caleb looked, but Caleb went on moving the piece anyhow.

 _Caleb! You're going to be in serious trouble if you don't-!_

"Checkmate."

Game over. Caleb had promptly checkmated the delphox as she herself was ready to begin the destruction of about half of his remaining pieces. Goldeneye stared at the board for quite a while. Caleb had won with what looked like ease.

Caleb offered his paw. "Good game." he complimented. Clearly a formality.

Goldeneye accepted the pawshake, and then smiled. "Well done. Did you have me on the ropes the entire game?"

"I don't wish to offend you, but after the game was halfway over I was in full control" Caleb admitted. Goldeneye nodded while the others started preparing to go to their respective homes for dinner and then bed.

Except there was one more person. Gallade wanted a game. "Ah, if it isn't the human absol." he greeted. I had trouble reading him. There was something likable about him, but at the same time, I automatically tensed around him. Why? Why did he give off a sense of calm and apprehension at the same time?

"That would be me." Caleb replied, not willing to begin the proper conversation this time. Maybe he had gotten the same sense that I had. Maybe not. I had always been more in tune with the emotions of others except for a select few. Caleb was a wonderful mystery, and Wigglytuff just freaked me out, and Gallade gave that weird conflicting aura.

The other gallade, this one called Space, also stopped by to watch the game.

Five moves into it, Caleb grunted and looked at the board. "That board configuration is new." he commented, eyes narrowed "I don't like seeing that. Puts me on edge."

"Understandable." Gallade replied easily, waving a hand dismissively. "You seem quite experienced with the game, so it makes some sense that you would be unused to new situations."

Caleb shook his head. "Chess has many possibilities, but most experienced players use less known starting positions to catch the opponent off guard. I simply recognize that you either know exactly what you are doing, or have no idea what you are doing at all."

Caleb moved his piece. Gallade moved his. Unlike the match between him and Goldeneye, there were certain amounts of actual banter. Caleb was rather… hesitant to be involved, but Gallade kept starting conversations.

I could practically see the rather antisocial absol thinking " _Checkmate needs to happen quickly"_

Caleb frowned at the board. Was he losing? I couldn't actually tell at all. He looked **worried**. Gallade got a triumphant smile as he moved a piece. "Check"

Caleb then made his move. The aggressing knight piece was taken by a bishop. "Check." Caleb called right back. He had taken the threatening piece and checked the other king at the same time. Gallade stared at the board before giving a hearty laugh. "Well done!" he exclaimed. The new board configuration was no longer in Gallade's favor.

"You knew that was going to happen?" I asked from the side.

"He did, I'll bet…" Gallade muttered,

"Not until three moves ago" Caleb told us. he was downplaying himself **again**!

Caleb's victory was assured. He quickly overcame Gallade from the side with his queen piece. Half of his left hand side of the board was wiped out quickly and efficiently. Gallade's king was in the open and his queen was behind his own pawn, so he couldn't do anything.

Not for that move. He moved a random piece, knowing it was basically over. Caleb put his queen right next to the king, protected by a rook. "Checkmate" he declared, before his magical chessboard marks on the floor reset and he stood up. He hesitated before stretching; he had admitted to me that it felt strange to stretch in this way still. Apparently, it was how something called a 'dog' stretched, a rather unintelligent being with good ears and noses, kind of like a mightyena in terms of abilities, though pokemon were all sentient as compared to the human world, where only humans were sentient apparently.

Caleb's tail was held high, unbeknownst to him. he was feeling proud, and no matter what he did with his face, that tail would wag if he was really happy and be held high if he was proud. Caleb suddenly whipped his head around to look at his tail, which he forcefully brought to a lower level.

Caleb frowning at his own tail sent the tired Daemyn into hysterical laughter, and Erza was chuckling a bit as well. "You would think this was new for you." Erza commented humorously.

"It is. I have been in full control of my emotions… Save my anger considering the discrimination of others." Caleb amended "My instincts continue to affect my mind. Of all the blasted…"

He trailed off, choosing instead to make sure his packs had everything he needed and inquired as to whether we wished to depart now. Having spent the day together, we were ready to go have some alone time, eat dinner, go to bed. Maybe I could sneak something of a gesture of affection off before Caleb got to bed.

Caleb forged ahead, the mostly silent Shedinja tailing him, and I moved to catch up. He was walking at a weird pace that I was quite unused to, and until I got the hang if it I was either going faster or slower than my love, making it difficult for me to be near. Clever boy.

"How'd you do that, anyways?" I asked, finally finding the right rhythm of walking to keep proper pace with him. Once I started doing it, it was easy enough.

"Simple. I observe. You had several things that you do when you are walking. When you are walking, but are in a hurry, you go a certain speed. The same is true for several emotional influences on your pace and activity. Having seen all of them, I am capable of choosing a pace you do not often deal with, and you habitually speed up or slow down as you try to keep pace." Caleb answered.

"Well, that's not happening again." I declared, pressing against him as we walked side by side. He gave no reaction to it.

"False."

"Huh?

I believe I could reasonably cause you trouble in this manner during five more occasions at least." Caleb informed me.

"Gah… Why do you make it difficult to be with you?" I asked, exasperated now.

"Because you practically make it difficult to **breathe**." Caleb responded.

"There are lots of things that I could do to make it difficult to breath." I teased.

"Such as?" He was so calm…

"This!" I exclaimed, trying to score a kiss on him out of the blue. He vanished in a flash of light and, using quick attack, somehow made it into a freaking tree, looking down at me with balance he did not have, as if he was doing it by instinct.

"Shedinja, play interference, would you?" he requested, leaping back down.

" **Shedinja**." Shedinja intoned, moving between us and staying there. I sighed. There was no getting past the bug without attacking him, which would have Caleb disappointed in me again. I did not want that to happen.

So we went to dinner, and then to bed. Not much was to be said anymore, for Shedinja made a firm and unyielding shield between Caleb and I, feeling somewhat like our parents were keeping us apart or something. Oh hey, philosophy. When did I get you back?

I sighed once more before I curled up… on Caleb's bed. I left him some room and dared him to try and avoid making contact with me in his sleep. Shedinja couldn't stop me if I was already here, right?

Caleb, the ever indifferent and smart guy, took my bed instead. At least my scent would be invading his nose all night.

 _I'm not getting more invasive… I'm getting smarter about being invasive._

At least I had his instincts going for me. It still seemed that they were affecting him, but he might find a way to fight it eventually.

"Good night." I whispered, twisting to my back and deciding to sleep like that. Really, it couldn't be that bad, could it?

"A good night to you as well." Caleb returned, ever the gentleman. I smiled. He was not ignoring me. He just… Didn't care for me in that way yet. To the point of bolting as soon as my lips neared his. Dang it, he was fast too. Was there nothing I could find fault in her for? Not really.

I hoped my dreams tonight wouldn't be as strange as they had been last night.

* * *

 **Hey, brilliant chapter, right?**

 **Before we get into the whole "pleasepleasepleasereviewforme" portion of the ending notes, some explanations are in order.**

 **Shedinja. shedinja has an interesting situation in the games. Some of those deals, are, to be brutally honest, bull. Here are some aspects of his wonderguard that are affected by logic and other aspects.**

 **Rock type attacks: They have to be actual attacks. Shedinja will NOT be knocked out by a random tossed rock. Rock attacks revolved around summoning the rocks from thin air, and launching them. These rocks can hurt shedinja. Other rock based physical attacks can hurt him as well.**

 **Ghost types: Astonish will NOT be hurting Shedinja if he ever comes across it. it's essensially just scaring the target. Shedinja won't drop from fright. Lick is a either or scenario. If the user is a ghost type, let it go. Shedinja will fall. Not if a lickitung does it.**

 **Flying types: wind-based attacks are not going to hurt him. Regular wind doesn't do it. What will affect him are the physical flying type attacks, as well as razor wind, which is a flying type in my story because it's official type is rubbish. Vacuum cut I assume to work as well, but that was basically filler until Sarah could reasonably learn razor wind.**

 **Fire types: Self explanitory. Fire burns.**

 **Dark types: if dark was not a type I actually respected, I would give major limits to this for shedinja's sake. I do respect it, so dark works.**

 **Status moves: Shedinja being capable of being hit by stat stuff is the kind of thing I call serious shenanigans on. If it is not a type that can affect him, it wil not work. Period.**

 **Weather: Also BS that it can affect Shedinja. No go for weather affects, except for when it affects the strength of attacks.**

 **That our of the way, let's get on with the normal shenanigans. Continue reviewing please! It tells me that you lot are really enjoying the story, which I love myself.**

 **I did want to say that my updating schedual will be way out of whack. I will still be updating New Age and TAC in alternate intervals, every other chapter uploaded. Calculus exists, and so is the pressure on me. Just know that I migth slow down, but you don't have to worry so much. I do NOT intend to ever stop writing TAC or New Age until they are done. I WILL complete TAC, all the way to book five.**

 **Thank you all for reading the chapter, and have a pleasant day!**

 **-Hyperjade**


	10. Chapter Ten

**Well well, welcome back, one and all to The Absolite Chronicles!**

 **Amber: Glad you're not freaking out about being late anymore.**

 **Me: Yes, I have accepted that school will slow me down, and that my chapters will have no specific deadline. Now, let's get onto some reviews, shall we? Before that, where's Jango?**

 **Amber: Probably doing something he shouldn't be. Should I go find him?**

 **Me: Please do. Now... First off. Westernfail. Yes it was not explained perfectly. There are situations where people will change how they act around certain people. This is not the same as what Amber is afflicted by. Her reactions towards people are immediate and constant, and are essentially out of her control at this time, making her almost a different person whenever she is talking to different people.**

 **Raven... yeah, I understand that. Daemyn is actually going to get a lot of action in this chapter. I understand that they need some more development, and that is what I plan to give some of the characters I have not touched on as much in this circle of friends. As for Sarah's apparent restraint, that was a snap decision on her part and then she questioned herself about it. Basically, it's still up in the air.**

 **Jango: *Appears out of nowhere* Rocketiermaster, you are SO**

 **Me: Going to find out! *Glares at Jango***

 **Jango: Aww... Why no scared reaction?**

 **Me: That's... fascinating, Philip Harbindinger. Glad you like it, I guess.**

 **Amber: *Makes it back to the computer* Found him, I guess. Uh... Did we ever play soccer, Jango?**

 **Jango: Once or twice, but when it happened we can't tell them.**

 **Amber: Right. Sorry, Hyper.**

 **Me: That is quite all right.**

 **Jango: Hey! Why can she slip up and not be threatened with death by future embarrassment?**

 **Amber: Because I actually care, and just make mistakes.**

 **Me: *nods* All right. This guest... Again, I have a full plan for the tournament, and you will just have to see what happens. That way, it will be a surprise. Sort of.**

 **Jango: ZLAXE's got a few characters of his own around. I can't quite make them out.**

 **Amber: Neither can I...**

 **Me: I am glad that Caleb is nearing that point for you. That is what he was intended to become in that manner, and I intend to solidify it here.**

 **That's about it for reviews! Glad that you lot enjoy my work still, and without further ado... Chapter start!**

* * *

 **Chapter 10: The World VS Physics**

⽕ **Sarah's POV** ⽕

Tonight's dream was just as it should be; no freaky realistic shenanigans, no being attacked by humans who I had never heard of, no being somewhere I didn't know. No, the dream Loudred woke me from was of me and Caleb in my old crystal tree home.

Caleb remained sleeping, startling Loudred. He opened his big fat mouth again, and I glared at him before plodding over to Caleb sleepily. He was **not** smiling in his sleep. He was… grimacing. I nudged his face with my paw. "Hey, Caleb." I whispered to him "Wake up."

Caleb said nothing for a moment, but suddenly he bust to his feet, accidentally smacking the piece on his forehead into my jaw, flipping me backwards onto my back on the dirt. I looked at him from that position, to see him breathing raggedly. Like he had a nightmare or something.

 _He is always in his dream world. If he is having a nightmare of sorts, it's going on in there. What was happening to him to make him lose that calm expression!?_

"Caleb, are you alright?" I asked hurriedly, jumping over to him. He was shaking, and his eyes looked so… horrified. "What on earth **happened** to you!?" I demanded.

"It… was **horrible.** " he muttered, eyes still unfocused.

"Who did this to you!?" I asked furiously. Whichever dream construct did **this** to my Caleb was going to freaking **suffer**. Caleb shook his head.

"It was… training. The worst kind of training. Doesn't qualify as training scratch training it was more along the lines of suffer now so that I may not suffer later…" he murmured, the last words strung together without pauses.

"Suffer from **what**?" I inquired.

Caleb's eyes came slightly more into focus, and he shuddered. "Suffer from my instincts, Sarah." he informed me "I refuse to allow my instincts to control my emotions and actions, and so much train to avoid such a thing."

 _Oh… And somebody… helped him with that? They must have…_

Jealousy soared through my form as I wondered which of them was taking my chance at having Caleb, before I calmed myself. That was a dream. He could still wind up with a girlfriend in the real world. Even so, I found myself wondering who would possibly want to be with Caleb other than me?

 _Knowing his popularity is growing… But I'm talking in the dream. There's Sheila, Amaterasu, and… No, my kid form won't get involved in this._

And imagining Caleb being confronted in the way that I do by a giant **tank** … I shivered slightly. That left Amaterasu, who seemed too calm and collected to promptly fall in love with Caleb. So… Was it somebody new?

On the other hand, Amaterasu was quite similar to Caleb. Would she actually like Caleb in that way? I remembered he had told me that he was suffering now as to not suffer later. He was trying to avoid falling in love with people in the real world by letting his instincts focus on someone in his dream. However, it did not seem to be his idea. Amaterasu had probably decided to 'help' him with that.

Which in no way helped me. At all.

 _What can I do to stop her?_

"Oh Instincts aren't **that** bad!" I tried to assure him, though if he wanted to avoid falling in love, the instincts would indeed be a hindrance. I wasn't about to admit that though.

Caleb was having none of it. "Instincts will only hinder me as I move forward. I will not have my emotions toyed with." he proclaimed, beginning to walk out. He was still shaky on his feet. I wondered just what the heck Ammy had **done** to him to have unnerved him so.

 _Perhaps… he is afraid of being in a relationship._

I was not going to press it now; Caleb would **not** discuss it with me. Instead, I had another thing I was wondering about. "Caleb…. Could you tell me why you were so angry when you learned that others don't like Amber just because she was human before? It was kind of… Scary." I admitted.

Caleb stopped mid stride. Loudred was about to yell at us, so he looked me in the eyes and told me "I will tell you after the… cheer." he promised, hesitating to even mention the chant that most of us sung every day. Caleb was just not the singing type.

So we went to the assembly of guild members and were scolded profusely by Chatot for being late, which we both kind of ignored. Caleb would not dare ignore a member of authority, but I'm pretty sure Amaterasu did something… horrifying to Caleb. At least, horrifying for him. He was traumatized. Again.

Caleb didn't even bother mouthing the lyrics. He got out of there as soon as possible. He waited for the room to clear out a bit before climbing up the ladder, and I followed as closely as I could He got out of the guild and walked aside to the cliff's edge.

"All right…" Caleb murmured "I think you deserve to know why I am so aggravated by the idea of racism, beyond what is reasonable. It started when-... I also think that the others deserve to know this. Can this wait for everyone to get together?"

I was startled by his sudden request, but it made sense. If it was a traumatic memory, he would probably only want to tell it once. I nodded.

" **Shedinja**." Shedinja agreed, causing us both to bristle.

Caleb and I gave him an apologetic look. "I apologize, Shedinja." Caleb said "I had forgotten you were here."

Shedinja floated up and down to nod, seeming to understand perfectly. I would bet he was sad. I also apologized to him before we moved down towards where everyone would meet, at the crossroads near the watering hole. Said watering hole was as full as ever, and Caleb and I immediately went to drink from it. Caleb in particular seemed to need a lot of water at the moment.

I stayed with him, a little worried as he continued to lap up water. Partially because he wasn't the best at using his tongue to gather water, but I also suspected his throat was feeling a bit dry at the prospect of recounting what was obviously a bad memory.

Daemyn and his team showed first this time. Casually strolling down the path from treasure town, in no hurry because nothing needed to be done today or tomorrow. Caleb had turned around by that point. Daemyn stopped cold at his troubled expression before running over. "Caleb, what's wrong?" he asked hurriedly.

"I've promised Sarah to explain to you all why I reacted so strongly to hearing that Amber was discriminated against based on what she is. You deserve to know, and I have not told any of you at all." Caleb explained. His frown did not die.

Daemyn hesitated before nodding. Like me, the mightyena had seen that Caleb did not like what he was going to tell us. He backed up and waited patiently for the others, knowing that Caleb was not in the mood for small talk.

Erza came around next, her tangela not there for the moment. "Hello, Erza. Where are your two goofball teammates?" Daemyn inquired.

"They went way ahead of me. Let me wake up on my own, as ordered." Erza replied, walking up to us before seeing Caleb's face and having much the same reaction as Daemyn had. Caleb told her the same thing he had told Daemyn, and Erza, understanding as Daemyn did, backed off and waited.

There was quite the awkward silence as we waited for Amber and her lot to get here. We waited for about ten minutes, which was surprising. I had expected more or less. Either they could have come first, or it could have taken half an hour longer.

So when Charizard slammed into the ground with Amber and Absol on his back, followed closely by Magnezone, we were rather unprepared for their entrance.

"Hey." Daemyn greeted the group, most of which gave a greeting in response except for Amber, who was again unnerved by Daemyn, as she is with her interesting personality change every time she focused on somebody different.

There was some rather meaningless conversation before Caleb stepped forward. "Good morning everyone. Today is to be a day of rest, one we have decided to spend together. I am sure we can find things to occupy our time. However, there are things I would wish to discuss with you first." he greeted the group as a whole.

Caleb looked about, seeing that he had everyone's attention. "I believe that all of you deserve an explanation after my actions last night at the cafe. I understand how unprecedented it was for me to lash out as I learned how those around Amber treated her based on her human origins…" he trailed off, looking towards Amber. "I also must apologize for frightening you so. My reaction was clearly unexpected."

Amber was taken aback at the apology, clearly, but she quickly nodded. "It's fine. I just got a little scared…" she practically whimpered at the end. Caleb looked down in slight shame, beating himself up again.

Before any of us could say something, he brought his head up. "At any rate, I believe you all deserve to know why I react in such a way towards people who discriminate others based on what they are or where they are from. I developed this ingrained reaction around two years ago."

"I had little friends before I came to this world. Two boys and two girls that I knew. The girls I knew much less, and were simply acquaintances that respected each other. The first boy, who you all know because of how I described him after Sarah recovered me from sky peak. Riley was his name, and a good friend he was, but the last boy, he was the one who I feel emotional pain when I remember."

Before any of us could ask what he did, Caleb continued. "Unlike the others that I knew, this boy-David was his name-had darker skin than the rest of us. Such a thing is not uncommon; humans have many different skin tones. The problem arises that the history in the country where I come from includes the enslavement and discrimination of people of those origins. In modern times, that inequality is all but eliminated… Except for this case."

"What happened to him?" Amber asked quietly, and Caleb's eyes shadowed now.

"I was with him just before. We were travelling through a town in order to meet up with our parents after an event… Having blocked most of the day from my memory, I cannot recall what that event was. I was separated from him in the dense crowd of people. That is where a older man whose name I refuse to remember got to him in a secluded area from the crowd that I could not find at the moment."

"This man was older, and had been brought up to believe still in the supremacy of people with lighter skin, or white people. In the midst of an accepting society came this horrible man with the intent on harming David, and he did. I heard yelling, both screams of anger and screams of pain, and managed to make my way to the scene in time to be one of the people working to stop him. My friend was in very bad shape, unconscious and having been stabbed and beaten repeatedly. He was rushed to the hospital quicker than the man who committed the crime was escorted to jail."

"So it was because his skin was darker?" Erza muttered. "He was all right though, right?"

Caleb shook his head. "No. He nearly died, Erza." he responded, dropping enough of a bombshell for us to make all of us back up several steps, horror on our faces. I don't think any of us had expected something so horrible.

"Even afterwards, he could never move around quite right after his operation, because multiple points on his body were so badly damage in such a short time that he never healed properly. He never moved freely again, he barely got any better for the two years before I found myself here." Caleb continued. The boy had survived, but would be crippled, and humans couldn't use heal pulse.

Caleb's expression darkened. "Being a witness, I played a key role in the trial of the man, and I put David's injuries into such detail and his description even more so that there was no chance of the man being alleviated of his crime, and was sentenced to Jail, never to harm anyone again. I personally made certain of it, breaking through any silly beliefs of the adults obviously had at my ability as a speaker. Adults tend to assume that children do not know what they are talking about, the arrogant gits. They made it more difficult for me to present the evidence needed to crush his chance at being incarcerated permanently."

It was not often that Caleb directly insulted somebody. He was becoming angry just remembering it. "n-no wonder you get so angry when that happens…" Amber murmured.

"That is messed up. Beating a kid nearly to death because he **looked** different!?" Daemyn basically snarled.

"I understand your reaction towards such discrimination now…" Erza nodded slowly, trying to hide the anger burning in her own eyes.

I'm pretty sure my eyes were burning bright as well. I said nothing, however. Caleb understood my thoughts with a single look, as he does.

Caleb shook his head rapidly. "I do not wish to remember it. It was one of the few times where I openly lost my temper during my previous life. I am forced to remember it whenever I see a similar situation. I cannot allow anyone to suffer the way my friend has, regardless of how resilient pokemon are. Now… I believe we are in need of some… fun." he finished, choking out the last word.

Everyone tried to clear out their heads, and successfully got back into their normal attitude, though the images of what Caleb had described had been ingrained in our minds. We pretended for him. We decided to help him.

" **Still** not used to having fun, eh?" Daemyn asked, brow raised. Caleb muttered a quiet no, his head hanging. That, that was humorous to most of us, and we had a good laugh at his bashfulness in that regard.

"You take things way too seriously… everything. Some things need to be taken seriously, but… You don't **ever** find time for fun!" I told him "We keep telling you that you don't need to be a grown up all the time."

" **Shedinja**." Shedinja agreed.

"Idea!" Jake held his hand in the air, waving it a bit. All of us looked at him with different expressions. "Let's go watch Queen and King raise the stadium!"

"That's right! I forgot that was happening today!" Erza exclaimed. "Everyone who knew earth power was requested to help make the arena!"

Caleb started. "There is **no** way that you can build a stadium to fit **that** many pokemon in with a few pokemon who know how to manipulate dirt. I refuse to believe it can possibly work." he denied.

Jake came up to him. "Time to prove you wrong again!" he cheerfully said as he started to drag the absol towards town.

"What are you doing? Unhand me!" Caleb exclaimed, trying to pull away from Jake. I could tell that he was halfhearted in doing so; he could have gotten away from Jake easily with his higher amount of strength in his muscles.

Many of us laughed again, though I took no part in that this time. Caleb was obviously uncomfortable. We started to go with them, and I spoke up for Caleb. "Y'know, he might just come willingly if you let him go. he's obviously uncomfortable" I told the raichu, who looked into my eyes. He seemed to quickly decide that he did not want to face my fiery wrath.

"Thank you." He told me, and then looked to Jake. "Thank you as well, for releasing me. I intend to come along on this venture. It is important that as friends, we stay together as a group."

Nods all around, and we then continued to travel into town, where a mass of pokemon were gathering. Such a mass that getting through them was definitely **not** going to happen.

"We seem to be late." Caleb noted.

"Took you long enough to notice…" Daemyn muttered back.

"Want me to clear them out?" Erza asked, spinning her flail around with one leafy hand.

"No." Caleb replied "We will either have to find our way through, or watch from here."

"Why not just push our way through?" Charizard wondered.

"Because that would cause everyone to start doing that, and we would have the world's biggest battle royale on our hands." Amber clarified, earning a nod from Caleb. Darn it, why didn't **I** earn that nod? I had thought it!

 _Too slow…_

I needed to be faster to impress Caleb. Not exactly wittier, because Caleb seemed not the type to joke around, but quick in my reasoning. Caleb had complimented my intellect numerous times when I came up with something (Pretty much the best gift I could ever get) and just being around him seems to have increased how fast I could logically figure things out. Perhaps just watching him do it led to me starting to think things through more.

"How are we going to get closer, then?" Daemyn wondered, head tilted slightly and ears flicking. He quite suddenly blinked. "Hey, a lot of people are watching from the air." he noticed.

We all looked up in unison. All sorts of pokemon had taken to the sky as well, having a much better view. Could we do that?

"Most of us can't fly. Are you suggesting that we ride on those that can?" Caleb inquired.

"Magnezone can carry one of us with minimal effort besides Swampert." Absol supplied.

"I can see over most of the crowd anyways." Swampert assured them "And Jake can climb on my shoulder to see."

" **Shedinja** " came the comment of the mostly silent bug. We nodded silently.

"We cannot fit on Shedinja, though I have no doubt he could hold us." Daemyn muttered.

"I am bipedal, and am a good size to hold on properly." Erza said, and we all nodded again.

"The tangela aren't here... You said they went ahead?" Jake asked Erza from his perch on Swampert's large shoulder.

"They would probably be right up front, yes." Erza nodded.

"Charizard can carry me and Absol, and probably one more with no real issue…" Amber murmured "Uh, I mean if Charizard wants to."

"I can easily carry five…" Charizard muttered back, confident in his strength. Caleb nodded in response.

"Even so, Magnezone can carry one of us, and lighten the load on Charizard. Perhaps Machoke?" Daemyn asked.

"C-can do-o" Magnezone warbled.

"That leaves… bastiodon." Erza said, and we all looked at the very, **very** heavy pokemon who none of us could hope to lift.

"Uh…"

Bastiodon however, seemed rather nonchalant. "I have seen it raise before." he intoned "I am not concerned with seeing it again. I am taller than many of the pokemon here, and will be able to see most of the arena rise from the earth." he intoned.

"Are you sure?" Amber questioned the steel type from where Charizard was holding her in one arm.

"Certain."

"Very well then." Caleb voiced.

"That's everyone accounted for?" I had to make certain.

"I believe so."

Machoke climbed onto Magnezone, who immediately floated up with him on it. Shedinja looked towards Erza, who leaped onto him easily and found her balance, keeping herself in place by holding her leaf rapier through the hole in his empty shell and propping herself up.

"I know I'm new here, but I'm here too!"

I jolted and looked towards the voice, which belonged to that Riolu who had shown up on Swampert's shoulder, looking quite cheerful. Even Swampert looked surprised. "Where were **you**?" I wondered in surprise.

"I'd like to know that too." Swampert rumbled, "You disappeared after we got out of sharpedo bluff."

"Kind of sudden." Jake put in.

"I just went to go do a thing. Talk to some folks." Riolu shrugged. Everyone sweatdropped. Not only had we all failed to notice he was even gone because he was so new, he had also gone and done his own thing for a while.

"Well, if you are all right riding Swampert?" Jake asked. the jackal gave a cheerful nod. Then we all boarded our respective flying or floating pokemon and took to the skies so that we could witness the show.

⽯ **Caleb's POV** ⽯

I was surprised by the massive crowds of pokemon surrounding the area as we rose into the sky. A sea of different colored beings crowded tightly together, ready to watch whatever was going to happen. However, the throng of pokemon stopped at a certain point, where some pokemon were keeping the others from getting too close, and then…

Two large pokemon stood up in front, facing the space. One was purple, the other blue. They must have been King and Queen. Besides them, several guildmasters stood around them, forming a light arc. Wigglytuff, several draconic pokemon, and a ninetails much like Vulnona were there as well. I couldn't see the actual Vulnona, or anyone else I knew in the crowd, being so high.

A large pokemon stomped in front of the guildmasters and everyone. He looked like a much bigger form of loudred with all sorts of protrusions from him. "ATTENTION EVERYONE!" he screamed, causing several pokemon in front to faint promptly from its volume. I winced, even up here and so far back.

"IT SEEMS THAT EVERYONE WHO WISHES TO OBSERVE THE ARENA BEING RAISED IS HERE, SO LET US BEGIN!" he roared "QUEEN, KING, PLEASE USE EARTH POWER!"

The pokemon raised the arms nearest to each other first, and a yellow glow erupted from their hands like a fire that exuded in all directions. Then, they slammed their massive paws together, and the aura spread to their entire body, and I suspected that they had just massively improved their capabilities. Just a sense.

They raised their other arms up and away from each other, and the earth rumbled and shook violently. The rumbling continued, and I watched in something resembling awe as the dirt overturned itself in the entire area.

"...Not possible… not physically possible…" I muttered in sheer disbelief as the entire space, enough to fit every pokemon present and far more, started shifting and changing and **rising**. It took form around the edge as I watched dirt harden into stone. It was completely impossible.

the towering ring stood high and mighty, and the slope terraformed into stands that were fancy and impressive. This was the power of a creative earth power user. The power to do what they wished with the earth, and these two were apparently the most proficient users of the technique. This was true power.

It kept rising, so high into the sky that it really could fit every pokemon around. So big it could take hours to navigate around it. The stands might even then be full, but it was condensed into stone. It was going to be incredibly impressive.

The field at the center was still dirt, but I now noticed a circle of pokemon flying in on flying pokemon. They looked like grass types, and they started to work towards using another impressive technique that spread grass about the field quickly and efficiently, and then even more pokemon started being flown in to work on the interior some.

"What are they doing now?" I heard Amber ask.

"I-I believe that these are pokemon gifted in rune magic, preparing the field so that it may regenerate slowly on it's own-n" Magnezone warbled "M-much like the tiny meadow-w"

I nodded in understanding. Magic could apparently do anything, so I was willing to buy that at this point, but I was having trouble accepting that two pokemon could raise a literal freaking world class stadium out of the ground in a manner that did **not** require magic, just sheer ground type aura.

"I am in shock." I admitted to the others, and went on to notice that they too were quite surprised at it's size, those who had not seen it before, which seemed to include Jake, Swampert, Riolu, Sarah, Amber, Charizard, and I. Teams Rush and Ivy had gone to this event before, so we were the ones to see it for the first time. Shedinja might be in shock as well, but was not capable of conveying emotions.

And I really have to say it: That was the most impressive thing I have ever seen. No fireworks display had anything on the sheer size of this stadium. It made football stadiums look small. To fit so many pokemon…

Now I understood as well why some of the dirt made houses were much nicer than the others. It depended on the skill of the user of earth power, and these two were so skilled at it that they could build an entire stadium that could fit every pokemon present in its stands. They had seemingly increased their power with that glowing hands trick.

"I… am impressed. Truly impressed. In the human world something that well designed could take years to build in slow and potentially somewhat dangerous situations. Two large pokemon built it in mere minutes by raising their arms in the air. I cannot fathom…" I trailed off, and through my absol sense, I caught the others giving each other victorious looks.

"Why do you think we dragged you here to watch?" Daemyn asked to my right.

"Jake dragged me. And it was a short distance."

"Whatever. I was a lot more in awe than even you were my first tournament." Daemyn nodded to his own statement and watched as pokemon started filing into the intricate doors in front that the large ground types Queen and King had pushed open.

"Let's land in there." Erza offered. Shedinja obediently started floating down towards the arena. The rest of us followed besides Magnezone and his rider, who went to wait with Jake out of courtesy. I would have done it myself, but I had little control of Charizard's movements.

We swiftly approached the ground and I, like the others had the forethought to jump off before he crashed to the ground with no hesitation. I tried to land lightly on my feet, but I guess life was not on my side, and I managed to catch my claw on **something** and tumble to a stop before scrambling to my feet. Thankfully, there had been quite a bit of dust from Charizard's landing and my failure went unnoticed.

As the dust cleared, I saw that we had landed about a fourth of the field away from the entrance, which was currently filled with pokemon of all species as they started moving through the stands to see how far away things were from the battle, or something. Whatever they were doing.

I noticed a design flaw. "This place is huge."

"Of course it is. It needs to fit everyone, doesn't it?" Erza asked of me.

"You don't understand. It is far too big for everybody watching the battles to even see properly. They'll see two miniscule pokemon battling it out, and will not be able to understand it in detail." I clarified.

Erza looked at me for a moment, before sighing. "and that's a problem. What do we do with our problems?"

"Well, my observation was not to say I had a solution. It does have to fit every pokemon here, which is a majority of the pokemon on the entire planet. The pokemon population is small compared to a human population, but it is too large to-" I started to ramble, but caught Erza's expression.

"Let's try that again." she asserted "What do we do with our problems?"

"Is there really supposed to be an answer to such a vague and general question?" I demanded, feeling a mental jolt at my sudden harshness. Erza did not deserve any anger from me. I was losing my ability to be patient. Why was I changing so much? Were my instincts really driving me to do this? It had to be. It was unnatural.

Erza ignored my jab and waved her leafy arms. "We wish them away with magic! Like every unsolvable problem we have around here, you silly human!" she explained.

Daemyn burst into laughter at my very undignified and flustered expression. **Silly**!? I protested, causing more people to laugh.

"Yes, you." Erza teased, poking me in the snout with her hand. Defeated. "Is that the first time he's lost an argument without being bashed on the head with a flail?" Daemyn inquired, earning himself a nod from Erza.

Being poked in the snout reminded me that my face was no longer human again. I kept ignoring it. Well, somewhat accepting it, but in many ways ignoring it. It was likely not good for my mental fortitude to continue considering myself as human, but if I do not, what happens to Caleb? Do I cease to be him?

The thought terrified me. The fact that somebody I actually knew somewhat well had gotten me in a battle of words was embarrassing. Terrified and embarrassed, just like last night… Oh, there I go thinking about it. It certainly qualified for my top ten traumatising experiences.

 _Amaterasu has gone too far, and the worst part is that her plan is actually working._

My instincts had indeed latched onto her, making my life exponentially difficult in the dream to maintain any of what I should be that was left, diminishing amount that that value was. Out here in the physical world, life was getting harder to maintain a sense of normal in slowly, but it was also growing more difficult. Not too long before my past self would not recognize my present self.

 _Fear_ _ **.**_

It has been years since I was so afraid. Not truly; I was plenty afraid when I believed that Sarah had died, before that fear turned to anger, and that anger turned into bloodlust, which turned me, quite literally, into a monster. However, the last time that I had really been afraid for my own personal health was years ago.

 _Anger_

And there was resentment as well. Resentment of myself, having committed several crimes since coming to this world, crimes that were legitimately my first actions that could even be remotely considered crimes, crimes against my family, myself, and my friends, abandonment, the equivalent of killing myself in regards to my family, who would have to hold a funeral for me, frightening the inhabitants of this new world by trying to starve to death… All of it weighed on me.

I was afraid because I was changing. I was repeatedly caught off guard by people doing favors to me that I did not deserve, and I was angry. Furious at myself because in my own mind, I was just as bad as any human criminal in my world could be aside from being murderers, and I had nearly become a murderer as well. It was so unlike me to do all of these things.

Because before that, I was the best person I could be with the intent on succeeding and having a full life without avoidable pain and sadness, without poverty, without worry. Until I came to this world, I was **not** a criminal. Now I was. Nowadays I had committed enough crimes for a lifetime in a few months worth of time

 _A few months worth… Have I truly only been an absol for less than three months? It seems impossible that my life could have gone so far downhill in three months, that I could have abandoned everything I care about, that-_

"Caleb! What are you **doing**?!"

I jolted. Erza was shaking me by my shoulders, interrupting my brooding. "Damn! You scared me!" Erza exclaimed. hearing her curse was new. "You got that horrid dead look in your eyes! Cut it out!" she exclaimed again.

I shook my head violently, and looked about. Most everyone looked concerned. They were my friends, and I had scared them. Again. Friends that were concerned about me, cared about me. They mattered. They thought I mattered.

" _Even if you can never forgive yourself, even if you intend to remember what happened, you need to put it at the back of your mind. You're not… The only person you're hurting while focusing on this."_ Amber's words ran through my head a few times. Then…

" _You've been told a lot of the time that you need to let it go, or that you should forgive yourself. You obviously don't want to do that, because you believe that it is unforgivable. My point is: You don't need to forget what happened. You just need to understand it as something in the background. It happened, and that won't change. Instead, you can live in the present and future"_ Amber seemed quite wise at the time, and compared to that, her words had even more meaning now.

But that in no way meant that I could forgive myself. I was supposed to be an intelligent and good person, and I have repeatedly ground those aspects of myself into the dust. How could I possibly put such a thing at the back of my mind? It was…. Well, it was trauma. I was traumatized by my own actions, and until I recovered from that, I could never truly be a part of this group, could I?

" _Every one of us is willing to help you with that"_

Those words rang in my head finally as Erza wrapped me in a sort of hug, what she could manage with my sharp horn in the way and my current status as a quadruped.

"Every one of us is willing to help you recover, Caleb." Erza whispered as she let me go.

 _U-uncanny… it's almost identical…_

"Because we're your friends, and seeing you in pain is only painful for the rest of us." she continued

 _I am hurting others like this…_

"So if it's the last thing we do…" Daemyn took off from where Erza had left "We're going to help you forgive yourself and move on. For your sake."

" **Shedinja** " Shedinja agreed.

Amber looked me in the eyes, a somewhat sad yet also glad look in her eyes. " _See?"_ Those eyes told me " _You matter so much to these guys. Let them help you."_

And I wanted to. I really wanted to, but at the moment, those thoughts were in the back of my mind, boiling there. Abandonment. Monster, it called me. Monster, I called myself. How long before I could behave like I was all right? Would I change who I was at the same time? Did I have to cease to be Caleb to do it?

"...I want to have this discussion later. For now, I promise I will try to focus on today. I need to make some decisions at some point." I promised.

Sarah smiled at me. "We'll help however we can, Caleb." she promised me. "Okay?"

"...Yes. Of course."

"Great. Anything else we need to know?" Daemyn asked.

"I was traumatized further last night by Amaterasu, so that's another thing that I might zone out for no apparent reason over." I honestly warned him.

" **Amaterasu** traumatised you? But isn't she pretty much the calm one, just like you?" Daemyn inquired.

"Supposedly. I am coming to reevaluate the girl. She decided to assist me in trying to suppress my instincts, and I am seriously questioning her methods." I started, falling into a flashback.

 **FLASH!**

 _I watched as Amaterasu stalked towards me. I had been avoiding her all day, and had made it a total of five blissful hours of no torture, which I used to play with the kids and help them have their fun. When she showed, up, I knew I had to accept my fate._

 _But in no way did I want to._

 _I backed up as Amaterasu stepped forward. Riley quickly grabbed the kids and made a break for it. Angry Ammy was a scary Ammy. "You've been avoiding me all day."_

" _Yes. I needed time to be with these kids. They need me to help entertain them at times." I informed the wolf "You can't just use every minute you have with me around to torture me."_

" _Oh…" Ammy drawled seductively "It's not_ _ **torture**_ _, is it?"_

" _It qualifies."_

 _Amaterasu approached me, me starting to become excessively jumpy. A wrong move on her part and I might bolt. I grimaced, knowing that despite her truly questionable methods, what she was doing was in fact working quite well at capturing the attention of my instincts._

 _As she rubbed her flank along my left side slowly, my shuddered in something between an instinct related emotional response of shock and my own mind screaming for me to run away. My mind was fighting itself. "Resisting me is only going to make this difficult for everyone, you know." she murmured, turning to whisper in my ear as I shuddered again._

" _Amaterasu, does this really need to be so extravagant and seductive?" I complained, knowing her answer but figuring that there must be a less traumatic way to go about it._

" _Oh, you don't like this?" she whispered to me, rubbing her face against mine in a way that made my heart involuntarily flutter. I tried to shove it down, but even for me, my instincts could overpower my mind. At least, it overpowered my reactions to the feel of her fur and the look of her eyes and the little flick of the ears she gave._

" _Amaterasu, please. This can wait, can't it?" I begged._

" _No. It can never wait. Can't wait for you to catch up with your emotions." she told me, flicking me with her tail as she walked around me to my left side, which caused me to recoil._

" _Amaterasu…"_

" _Call me Ammy."_

" _A-... No. Amaterasu, there has to be a less extravagant way to-"_

 _Amaterasu shut me up with a lick to the cheek with her wolf tongue, which was understandably larger than mine. I now jumped away, only for Ammy to jump forward and put her paw around my neck as she slid up next to me as we stood._

" _Why not lie down for a moment." she offered, guiding me to the ground rather forcefully. I tried to fight, but my strength, even as I enhanced it with the dream, seemed not to be enough. Was I mentally succumbing already? Pathetic._

I am in such trouble…

 _She snuggled up against me. She was on my right side, but my horn didn't seem to bother her as she moved her neck around my horn to give me another lick. "Well well, it won't take long for you to be submissive, will it then?"_

" _It's… not my doing…" I ground out, still halfheartedly struggling as Amaterasu was rubbing my neck and back with her paw, which was really relaxing… I was going to get killed by this kind of thing someday. I just knew it._

" _Oh, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that for the next several hours, you're either going to be the happiest absol around, or the most traumatized. Your choice." she said, trying to push me to the side to get me on my left side, while I struggled to get away._

" _We can find another way to deal with this! We can handle my instincts in a more subtle way!" I protested, but Amaterasu was persistent, and when she got an idea, she would not change her mind. It meant I was going to suffer._

 _It meant I was, to say the least, utterly screwed._

" _Damn, I hate my life."_

 **FLASH!**

Yeah, my life hasn't been the best lately.

"So that left me in relatively poor shape this morning, which led to me having another thing to have problems about." I told the group, deciding not to tell any of the others about the shenanigans that had occurred in my dream world. That was a memory that they might find repulsive, and then when it got to where I cut my mental flashback off, they straight up wouldn't understand what was happening. I shuddered at that memory.

"I don't know how to help you in the dream, but at least she's doing it to help you with your instincts in the real world, right?" Jake asked.

"There are better ways to go about it, but Ammy's got a bit of an issue where she doesn't change her plan once she has made one. Quite the flaw, as it turns out, because I have a feeling she is going to be doing this to me for a while." I noted.

 _It's not like those actions actually work for a pokemon. But I believe that the instinct's effect on my mind goes both ways, where I experience reactions to such things. I hate it, but it works. If only she would choose a much more sane option._

"What is the plan here?" I inquired, clearing my thoughts to focus on my friends. Sarah beamed at me like I was the greatest thing in the world, which to her, I guess I was. Everyone had smiles towards me with the exception of Charizard, Absol, and Magnezone. Jake and Swampert… were suddenly here, and I had not noticed them show up.

"You joined us quite quickly." I commented to the raichu and riolu. Swampert was off talking to Charizard. The two seemed to have developed a rivalry at some point in our venture through life. Likely during that strength competition.

"We can be pretty fast if we want to be. One time we got two missions done in a day in two different dungeons that were an hour's run apart." Jake boasted, getting the riolu to look quickly at him.

"Really? That's fast, right?" he asked. The kid never stood still. I was having a hard time keeping track of him.

"Yup."

"I was thinking that we could check out the stands like everyone else is doing, then we can figure out what else to do while we have a whole day to ourselves." Erza offered. It was the best we had, so we nodded in unison.

"Caleb…" Sarah murmured, appearing beside me "Was Amaterasu hurting you?"

Her voice suggested something other than acceptance of such a potential fact. "Not in a physical way. She was hurting me, yes, but only my sanity to be honest." I told her the truth. She scowled.

"Only your sanity?" she repeated harshly "Caleb, that's kind of important, you know. You shouldn't let her do that to you.

"And risk being forced by my instincts to fall in love with somebody?"

"I don't want you being hurt, and or driven insane." Sarah asserted.

"Hush. You drive me mad as well. All of you do" I shot back.

Most but Sarah herself chuckled. "Yeah, I guess we do." Daemyn nodded.

"Well, we'll focus on keeping you sane, or at least try to, and maybe you won't get that freaky dead eye effect again. it's scary." Jake said.

"I-"

"Were you about to say apologize?" Erza inquired, suddenly in front of me with her flail twirling in her hand while she gave me a smile.

I froze. That flail was quite the negative reinforcement. "Well… Yes, I was. And that was a valid reason to. I scared him." I reasoned. Erza huffed and dismissed the energy making her weapon. "Fine. I'll allow it. This time." she told me with a smile that told me the next time I apologized to anybody near her, my face would be in the dirt.

I get that I apologize quite a bit, but that is a bit overkill and quite unnecessary. Like Ammy, Erza was not one to change her mind if she was set on something. At least she wasn't making my life hell like Ammy was making my dream life hell.

I sighed. Erza took that as a confirmation and cheerfully went on. We followed her lead towards the main entrance to the stands like good little lemmings, not really certain what to do otherwise. Boredom was a powerful thing.

And then I realized who we were all walking with. "Riolu, you mentioned having a similar ability to Jake's dimensional scream. Would you care to explain?" I requested.

"Oh, Sure. Jake told me that his was triggered by touching objects and he sees the past or future." Riolu began "But Mine's a bit different. When I touch other pokemon I can get visions through their eyes during events of their own and feel their emotions."

"...I think it would be best if you avoided any contact with me then, because I cannot have you being traumatised." I reasoned quickly. "Do you find yourself feeling residual emotions from whomever you make contact with?"

Riolu looked somewhat embarrassed. "Well, if I am not focusing well enough when I feel it happening, I can feel the emotions past the vision. Mom tried to keep me from making physical contact with a lot of people until I learned to somewhat control it." he answered.

"hmm…" I hummed, thinking. "Do you find yourself falling over when it happens?"

"Yeah. I black out. I feel what the person felt or will feel, and their emotions and such. Outside I just kind of shut down." Riolu responded.

I thought about it. "Riolu, I believe it would be best to learn how to remain conscious when getting these visions so that they are not completely debilitating during combat." I told him "I would be happy to assist with that of course, though we must find time."

Riolu got an eye sparkle. "You mean it!? You would do that?"

"Of course." I told him "I should be able to find time between work and this tournament. I would be glad to help."

"Thank you!"

"I'd help, but I'm clueless on how to handle my dimensional scream" Jake admitted, rubbing his head "so… I think I'll be right alongside Riolu here learning from you."

I thought about it. I had just committed to something I could not be sure was possible. "First off, I will be doing my best to figure how you two might be able to either hold back visions or remain standing at least as you experience them. What I cannot promise is that I will find a solution." I clarified.

"And since when have you not found a solution to things? You're the genius of the bunch." Daemyn interrupted.

"Unless Magic is involved." Charizard took the time to note. He was probably not expecting the nod I sent towards him.

"Correct. I am well learned in the concepts that exist in my old world. Magic is foreign to me, and so I have difficulty comprehending it." I confirmed.

We walked on. The stands were through a fancy archway, and I felt the need to comment on it. "The architecture is very impressive. This was done with the earth power attack on the first try, and I would suppose that some degree of mental control is involved in how it forms." I commented.

"Hey, Caleb. Do you… Like it here?" Sarah asked me.

"In the arena? It is impressive."

"No… In this world. Do you like it here? It's impossible to tell how much you enjoy life here, and all of your sad moments are because of you remembering things that have to do with your old world…"

I had to think about that. Did I like it here? "This world is very impressive" I began "The pain I feel is because of my own actions, or my instincts. Being in an absol's body has it's advantages and disadvantages of course, the advantages being far more durable and strong, and disadvantages including my own instincts that are essentially torturing me as I try to fight them. But the world itself is beautiful to see, and the only aspect that has directly hurt me that I have nothing to do with is the attract attack, which was painful enough."

"In essence, I like it here a lot. Life here is your own version of peace, with your friendly battles and such, and even the outlaws have strange, mundane reasons for taking things and those things wind up going back to their owners most of the time. Yes, I like this world." I finished "It simply isn't home."

Sarah nodded. "I guess no matter how much you like it, it can't compare to home, right?" she asked.

She was a very empathetic person. She did understand people that she spoke to as much as she could, and she was beginning to understand me. If she was not so overbearing, it was possible that I could respect that. If she didn't make life so difficult.

"...Not when I am thinking properly" I confirmed

"Not thinking properly?" Riolu asked. That's right, he didn't know the story. The others looked uneasy, but I simply hung my head.

"I had a chance to go home, and I did not, when my family depended on me, and they will never be able to see me again." I murmured "I was not thinking properly to stay, and it was selfish of me. Part of it was that I did like this place. This world is, to use a word I don't often use, amazing."

"Oh…" Riolu responded slowly. "Well, you're here now, right? You can do what you want now."

His naivety was backed by a slight amount of wanting to make me feel better. At least it was a nice idea. "I do have a job to do, and then another job if people want me to continue speaking in front of a crowd like has been my obligation for the past few days. That and I have enough free time with absolutely no idea what I could possibly do with it." I said out loud, though my words had no particular target.

Sarah opened her mouth. I looked her in the eye with as cold of an expression as I could muster, daring her to suggest something like taking a nap together or even something like what Amaterasu was doing to me.

She closed her mouth.

"...Oh." Riolu murmured, the wind taken out of his sails by my explanation, causing me to feel bad. "That was insensitive of me. The point is that I do like this place, and simply need to… recover."

Riolu now smiled at me as he walked alongside me. "And everybody wants to help with that. I understand now" he commented. I nodded, and he broke into a grin. He was such a little kid. I found it impossible not to smile at his antics. Little children were always more tolerable than older children.

"Whoa! Back up!" Daemyn exclaimed. I looked sharply at him, and he was staring at me. "Caleb's **smiling**!"

"Imposter!" Jake teased. Now people were laughing.

"Oh, I don't know, I **like** Caleb when he smiles, and there was no time for somebody to switch them." Sarah said out loud.

"Oi!" I exclaimed, exasperated, "I keep smiling throughout the past few days! I found myself **laughing** with you. I laugh! I am capable of laughing!"

"Barely…" Daemyn muttered sarcastically. To be honest, he had a point. I didn't smile that much. Even before I committed all of the crimes I had after I had a chance to go home, my smiles were rare, as I prefered a professional face, an emotionless one.

"You don't smile much… It's true. You should try to smile more." Erza told me.

"I do not wish to fake an emotional expression. If I am happy, I will smile." I informed her in a monotone voice.

"Well, when you **do** smile, it's so obvious. It lights up the entire world." Sarah told me.

 **FLASH!**

" _Why must I smile when I am not happy?" I asked my mother. She set down her coffee and gave me a warm look._

" _Because when you do smile, it lights up the entire world." she told me._

 **FLASH!**

I was silent for a few moments. Then, I gave a genuine smile. This legitimately stunned the others. Caleb smiling twice in two minutes? What was this sorcery? I could feel those thoughts coming from them. This smile however was not the small smile that I have given the riolu kid. This was a proper, full smile.

Amber brightened at the sight, as did Sarah. "but that smile is definitely real" she warmly continued.

"What brought it about?" Amber asked.

"Just… A memory. A good one. I've heard Sarah's words before." was all I said before I continued through the gate and towards the exit. Giving an eye smile just as much as the large smile on my mouth. There were good things that I could remember as well, and I had to remember that. If I could focus on my positive memories, maybe it wouldn't hurt so much.

But I did not want to and could not forget what I had done to my family. If I did, I might make such a mistake again. And that would be even worse. At that moment, at that memory, I realized that I had things that I could remember that would help me accept what I had done yet might be able to be happy while doing it.

But then again, why would I be so happy? Being professional was what I did. It was part of who I was. Could I be happy and professional?

 _If I kept my head straight and my face flat when I need to, but I don't know any longer if I need to be professional at all times. I don't know… I have to figure it out myself. I need to decide…_

The others could help me with that, perhaps. My smile persisted for quite a while. I had considered my family, and it had been a positive memory. A step forward towards recovery.

At the same time, I felt that to recover meant to forget the weight of what I had done to my family, and that was something I did not wish to do. I had put into words how I did not deserve to forgive myself, but was there anything other than that to be worried about? Perhaps the fact that this could be a life lesson to me.

Because what kind of person abandons their family and friends? A selfish one. One like I am. What I have been, and what I should never be again. Could I still know never to be that person if I allowed myself to forget the gravity of my actions?

I did not know the answer. I **hated** not knowing the answer to questions. I liked puzzles and mathematical problems for a reason.

"Considering that we seem to have absolutely nothing to do, could you please demonstrate your ability, Riolu?" I inquired as the jackal-like pokemon looked towards me.

"Oh! Sure!" he complied, quickly moving towards me.

I jumped back before he could touch me. "As I said, you could traumatise yourself by using it on me."

"Oh, right." Riolu rubbed the back of his head in a manner that told me he had forgotten that particular fact.

"Here. Try it on me instead." Jake offered. That was sensible. They were now teammates, after all. Riolu complied, setting a paw on Jake's shoulder. For an entire minute, nothing happened, until the riolu began to have difficulty with balance, blinking and rubbing his eyes as if tired.

Then, he promptly began to fall backwards. Jake made the effort to catch him, and set him down as he began twitching and shivering occasionally. I frowned worriedly at the little boy. He did not look so happy at the time. "Is he all right?" I asked, concern evident in my voice.

"He should be, unless he saw anything from a few weeks ago." Jake replied, alluding to my monstrous attack on the others. My eyes closed for a moment as I considered that. Jake talked about it so matter of factly… It was a mixture of disheartening that it was so prevalent in their memories, which it should be, and a sense of warmth that not a single one of my friends looked at me with any sort of blame or anything at all.

Even if I was to blame, not one of them was willing to blame me. It was wrong, but it was indeed heartwarming.

Riolu suddenly leapt up, breathing heavily. I was worried. Had he seen Jake nearly get himself killed trying to fight me in my monster form? No. No, he instead looked to Jake with excitement. "I didn't know your battle with Dialga was **that** awesome!"

I sweatdropped. He found a battle that supposedly meant life or death for an entire planet 'awesome'. Pokemon logic, I guess. Sort of like video game logic, but with an extra pokemon touch. At any rate, it was nonsensical.

"Well…" Jake muttered bashfully, rubbing the back of his head "It was intense, with rocks and beams of energy flying everywhere, and so… Yeah. I get told that a lot."

"multiple people tell you that a battle meant to decide the fate of the world was 'awesome'" I incredulously asked. The raichu in question looked surprised.

"Well, yeah." he responded, not quite getting my meaning.

"That battle was life or death for everyone, apparently" I noted "So why on earth think of it as an 'awesome' battle when so much was at stake? I can understand it being described as important, brave, heroic of you personally to take on such a challenge and be victorious, but to describe the battle as 'awesome' provides more credibility to the battle than is understandable. It sounds akin to describing the battle against me when I had been overtaken by darkness as 'awesome' with the exception that in your case, even more lives were at stake."

Most of us faltered at that point. They were considering what I had said, and most looked like they had little idea of how to react or even feel about what I had said. Jake finally started to mutter. "I… never really thought of it like that." he admitted quietly "We put it in the back of our memory and made it a good memory, a fun memory, so that we could continue being cheerful and unaffected by it, I guess…"

And there is the problem, or rather, the solution as well as the problem. If I chose to see it as a solution. These pokemon remained all happy and such by putting life threatening situations in the back of their minds and redefining them to what they like to think, thus making it a happy memory or an exciting memory… It allowed everyone to be play nice without resentment after that. No one focuses on what happened, instead they focus on who saved them, or the action that had taken place.

And it clearly works for them. I kept bursting that bubble for them. If I could do the same, I would likely be much better off mentally. That is, if I could escape my instincts. And perhaps I would have a better time of clearing out my instincts mentally if I could allow my trauma at my own failures to become happy memories of my families instead.

My biggest flaw was that I could not fool myself. I was incapable of it. I could never lie to myself and believe it. I could never convince myself that my actions were not bad things to do, or that some good came of it. Maybe my life could be happier, but that did not mean that my parents and other family members would be experiencing life the same.

 _Instead of trying to fool myself, perhaps I could simply remember the good things about life as it had been before. Remember my mother complimenting me and helping me through life. Remembering my father asking to play a game of chess even knowing that he would lose, playing because I enjoyed the game, and he did as well. Instead of remembering what I did to them._

Selected memory rather than blocking memories? I might be able to do that. Could I remain Caleb if I smile a bit more? Perhaps. Maybe. I often held back as I felt amusement or happiness. Perhaps that needed to change.

But it felt weird to laugh, to be happy. It was an odd feeling. I was never happy enough for it to be a normal feeling, a scenario that is entirely my doing. I needed to, essentially, learn how to be an actual living being, not some stone faced character that happens to move around and react to things.

In essence, I had to be alive. More so than I have been for so long, and then perhaps some of that pain would go away. It would not be instantaneous; I would be working towards recovery for a long time, but in the interests of keeping my friends from worrying about me, I needed to start now. It would be difficult, but I thought I could do it.

"...I understand the reasoning behind such an action." I finally acknowledged, startling the group.

"Y-you do?"

"Yes. Peace, or at least your version of it, would be very difficult if such traumatic and life threatening situations were remembered as such. The same is true for my own experiences, really. I do not know if I can remain the same person if I attempt the same mentality, but perhaps I can at least focus on happier memories than leaving my family to believe I was dead." I nodded, starting to lead us towards where the guildmasters were making discussion with each other, which I would follow by meeting Queen and King, and then perhaps I should make acquaintances with more combatants in the tournament.

"So… you will be smiling more?" Sarah asked, hope flaring in her eyes and voice alike. I hesitated for a moment, but I spoke again.

"I will attempt to look at things in a better light. If I am happy, or content, I will smile. That is what people do when they are happy, no?"

"Or when they're amused." Daemyn nodded. I conceded that point before I walked straight up to the guildmasters. Wigglytuff recognized me instantly of course. being the only absol present with armor made me rather obvious. Actually, to my knowledge, I was the only pokemon with anything resembling armor at all.

"Hiya, team Edge, Ivy, Rush, Thunderwave, and Amber! Hello, friends!" Wigglytuff exclaimed, coming over to us and giving us his hearty greeting.

"H-how does he know us by sight?" Amber whispered to me from the side "We've never met him… We come from a continent with no guild."

"I am unsure." I answered "but you four are particularly famous as of late for numerous reasons."

Wigglytuff danced a bit at our interaction, and quickly went over to the other guildmasters, who had more of an aura of professionalism about them. I followed without hesitation. Had I been a bit more on the childish side, I would have cheered. " _Yay! People who are like me for once since coming here!"_ Was not a set of words that would ever leave my mouth, particularly that first 'word'.

"These are my friends!" Wigglytuff exclaimed by way of introduction. Many of the other guildmasters nodded in my direction, perhaps expecting certain degree of excited clamoring on my part. There was some clamoring, but it was behind me.

"Hello, all of you. It is a pleasure to meet you." I greeted "I am Caleb, leader of team Edge, and like most of the others, local to this region. These are my friends and allies, Erza, leader of team Ivy, Daemyn, leader of team Rush, and Amber, leader of team Amber, and Jake, leader of team Thunderwave, along with our respective comrades, Sarah and Shedinja in my team, Bastiodon and Machoke in team Rush, Swampert and Riolu of team Thunderwave, Charizard, Absol, and Magnezone of team Amber, and Erza's teammates are currently not here."

My introduction was formal and professional, clearly not what the pokemon in front of me were expecting. They processed this for a moment, and I proceeded to make another inquiry. "What are your names?"

"Most of us go by our species name." one of the draconic pokemon said in a gruff voice. "I am Garchomp."

"You may call me Dragonite." came a kind female voice, drawing my attention to the orange colored dragon furthest away from me.

"Salamence."

"Goodra" said a rather large pokemon that did not look so draconic, but still was quite impressive. Like the name implied, there was a goo-like substance dripping from her arms and chin.

"Lilligant" said the pokemon that looked somewhat humanoid with a dress of leaves, clearly a grass type.

"Altaria"

The ninetails stepped forward as the rest of them greeted me. "I am the guildmaster of the largest guild in the world, in the largest continent known. Most call me Queen Ninetails, mostly because I also have a say in many decisions within the land, but I primarily exist as guildmaster, as I have for the past hundred years." she greeted.

I decided I liked how she spoke. Her voice was warm and calm. It also reminded me of my mother, the tone and speed at which she spoke, but she was also like me with her manner of speech. "It is very nice to meet you." I responded, speaking mostly to Ninetails. "I am quite interested in these other continent's. I may ask you for more information later."

Queen Ninetails gave me a smile. "Certainly. I would be glad to answer any of your questions." she replied, and the guildmasters began to converse once more.

I noticed that they were speaking of going to do something, so I had one more question to ask. "Pardon me, Ninetails?" I asked, drawing the attention of the fox.

"Yes?" she inquired, turning back to me.

"I had noticed your mention of being the guildmaster of your region for one hundred years. How old are you precisely?" I inquired.

Ninetailes gave a warm chuckle. "A woman should avoid answering such a question." She replied "But you are clearly not the judgemental type. I am one hundred and eighty years old. In comparison to an absol, a ninetails can survive for over a thousand years. Our instincts are also slowed as such, and in that manner, I am the equivalent of an eighteen year old Absol."

Her explanation sounded fine to me. "Thank you." I gave her a smile, and my absol sense detected Sarah bristling behind me. Let her freak out. I was being nice, not falling in love.

I hoped.

"It was good to meet you all." I proclaimed, earning nods from the guildmasters. They walked away, and I kept an eye on Ninetails. She could inform me on many things regarding the world, and could be a friend as well. I would need to know when I could find her. I suppose I could always ask Wigglytuff, if the overpowered goofball was willing to stop dancing about and help me.

"Ooh~" Erza called as she appeared at my shoulder. I snorted before she could continue.

"Now is not the time to play matchmaking. She is a viable source of information and can be someone I consider a friend. I am concerned about this mention of instinct, and to be honest I am uncertain as to why she mentioned it, but I intend to take it as a warning rather than a suggestion." I corrected her train of thought. Sarah's tension appeared to falter and then fade slowly.

"You two do seem quite similar." Daemyn noted, walking up to me. I nodded.

"I will not allow myself to be influenced by instincts. Until I have learned to distinguish the difference between my instincts and my true feelings, I will refrain from any emotional reaction to others beyond friendship." I replied.

"Friendship it is, then." Jake sighed "But really, who else could we possibly play matchmaking with?" This led me to leap away from all of them.

"That was what you were attempting to do!?" I exclaimed, my voice uncharacteristically an octave higher "I do not approve in any manner!"

Laughter was my response. Now I was openly seething, but there was a weird sense of amusement to it. They were joking around, bantering. That did not mean I wouldn't fight any matchmaking trick they came up with. Constant vigilance. I would have to exercise unimaginable caution of my friends were going to try that.

 _It could prove to be valuable practice in ignoring my instincts._

It did bring up the question as to whether I could growl threateningly yet. I didn't know how to. Oh well. Sarah was the only one not laughing at me, seeing that I was not so happy about the situation. Her eyes shone with hope however, glancing at the others.

 _Oh dear…_

If Sarah could convince the other goofballs to play matchmaking between the two of **us** , life would be so much more difficult. I quickly fled, uttering something about finding them later, hoping to find somebody saner to talk to for the moment while they got over their fantasies.

I made my way into town with the larger crowds. Even an absol in armor should be difficult to easily find. I walked a ways until I found a much quieter gap between some buildings where there was actually some space, enough to relax somewhat.

Until I heard an argument behind me. I turned, seeing a group of pokemon facing off against another, and they looked rather frustrated with each other. I frowned and walked forward. Perhaps I could defuse this situation?

On one side, there were two pokemon that looked quite a bit like spheres, with a red and white side each, though the one with white on top was bigger than the other. There was also a light blue pokemon that looked to be a water type, accompanied by a purple pokemon that floated about.

On the other, an interesting group of three pokemon. One was a pokemon that I had seen the species of before-a quilava. The others looked like yet more of those evolutions of eevee. One was pink, and was trying to calm the other down… The other looked like an umbreon, but he looked damaged. A scar adorned his face that crossed his eye and travelled down to his snout.

He was different in other ways as well. The eye that the scar passed through was grey. The other was an apparently normal red, but it flickered with light. His rings were not yellow, or the blue like that in Alger's rings. They did not glow very bright either. A dim, flickering red color in his rings, the same flickering that showed in the conspicuous runes and symbols that circled his paws like ankle bands, and the similar albeit somewhat larger symbols that adorned his flank and tail, even a few on the base of his ears, all flickering a dim red color. The runes gave off a rather sinister aura, which matched the scowl on his face as he glared at the other group, anger in his mismatched eyes.

"Leave." he snarled at the other group of pokemon, who started yelling right back.

"Like you have any right to tell us to shove off!" the larger ball yelled.

"Yeah!" the smaller one agreed.

At this point, I was ready to step in and stop something, but two of the others, the pink eeveelution and the large blue water type both moved to calm the scrappy pokemon down. "Keron, please calm down." the pink fox murmured to him, her voice soft and gentle towards the dangerous looking umbreon.

"We do not wish to or need to fight." the water type assured the group, including his own teammates. There was some quiet. I was intrigued. I was usually the one to defuse arguments like that, but those two had handled it rather well.

Mostly.

The umbreon, dubbed Keron, did not look pacified. He glared suspiciously at the four pokemon, the water type leading his teammates away. The quilava was cheerfully conversing with his teammates again, the umbreon was quite gruff in the way he spoke.

My mistake was choosing to walk forward to speak with them. Why I did, I did not know. I had enough to keep track of and I was unnerved by the umbreon in front of me. When my pawsteps became audible, he whirled towards me with a growl.

"Who are **you**!?" he snarled at me. I made the effort not to be offended.

"My name is Caleb." I greeted "I was passing by when I came across the ensuing argument, and was going to attempt to break it up, but it appeared as though you had it under control." The last part of my statement was directed at the female.

Said pokemon nodded. "Yes, we were alright."

Keron was not so pacified. "That" he growled "was none of your business." I frowned slightly at his actions and words. I was merely attempting to be helpful.

Before I could give a convincing argument, the quilava suddenly perked up. "Oh hey!" he exclaimed "You're that human, right?" I nodded to him, and he smiled at me. "Great to meet you. I've heard a lot about y-" he began, but Keron quickly got between us and was quite suddenly in my face.

"I don't buy it." he snarled. He seemed to snarl a lot. "you could be any normal absol, trying to gain trust through some stinking lie." Now I was offended. He was accusing me of lying?

"Keron" the pink pokemon came to my aid "I do not believe he is lying."

"You can't read his mind, Snowshy. None of us know if he is telling the truth." he growled back, raising one paw, and the runes there glowed and released a dangerous red energy that swirled around his paw and leg like a fire of evil feeling energy. I wanted to back up. I wanted to flee looking at it. Instead I steeled my gaze and looked him in the eye.

"I do not appreciate being called a liar. I consider myself an instructor, a teacher. In my attempt to help, I also make the attempt to educate. I bear no i'll will towards you nor your team, and I would not fabricate the origin of my words and actions." I retorted. I did not like this umbreon, and I was certain that he did not like me either.

The now named Snowshy tried to get between the two of us. "Keron…" she began, but the battle between them that I could see in their eyes was short lived and very one sided.

Keron narrowed his mismatched eyes at me, and spoke. "If you are such a famous human, perhaps you could see **this** coming!" he yowled, sending a swift jab at me with the glowing paw. I did not in fact anticipate actually being forced to trade blows with the umbreon, confident in my ability to defuse a situation such as that.

And then I proceeded to discover what the glowing from those runes did.

 **BOOM!**

The strike held far more of an impact than it should have done, blasting me straight into the crowd, where I sent pokemon flying like water flying away from a skipping stone that was gliding along the water as I tumbled away. A circle of space quickly appeared as people habitually left space for what should have been a sparring match.

I staggered to my feet. That strike had **hurt**. "I do not wish to fight you." I informed the umbreon, but he merely sent me another scowl. Snowshy and the quilava both looked on, trying to decide whether or not to intervene. "And being a human would actually limit my ability to understand the pokemon capacity for attacks."

"Irrelevant." he retorted, coming at me again. His paw would only glow that awful red aura as he moved to strike, which I took as being not to cause such an impact with the ground. That being said, he was quite fast.

I reared up to avoid his sweep, which might have sent me flying with the energy he had, and smacked him in the face with my paws, knocking him away onto the ground. "Please do not force me to defend myself." I pleaded as he got back up easily; I had done very little damage to him. I had not been trying to hurt him.

"I am challenging you." he told me "So fight."

He charged once more, and I caught the eye of Snowshy and the quilava, wondering if they would care that I was going to succumb and battle this pokemon. She looked conflicted, while the quilava looked somewhat excited.

I leaped over the umbreon to land near them. I had almost overshot, actually. "Are you all right if I defend myself?" I quickly inquired. She looked at me as if she was surprised that I would ask such a question.

She eventually nodded, looking towards the angry dark type. I looked as well to see him glaring at me. Really, did he do anything other than glare and make angry noises while speaking? "Very well." I replied, and began to walk forward. Psycho cut would not work on a dark type. Night slash would have less of an effect. So would shadow claw… that left Slash as a valid technique. His typing severely limited my efficiency in battle.

But my first action… I took a stance and initiated my swords dance. Extra power would be very helpful here.

Unfortunately, as soon as my holographic swords appeared, Keron blurred forward in a flash of red as the runes along his flank glowed and he was right in my face with his paw held above my head.

And then he brought it down.

 **BOOM!**

The ringing in my ears did not cease for a while as I tried to discover what had happened to me. my face was buried in the dirt, and I was hurt bad. There were fragments of light about us that had probably belonged to my swords dance.

I stood up to face the still angry umbreon. He held a paw up to my face, filled with more red energy, but I was done with that. I was going to do as much damage as I could before I faltered and was defeated.

Keron brought the paw towards my snout, and I ducked just in time before I generated a great amount of normal energy in my horn and slashed upwards.

 **SHING!**

Keron flew back with a yowl of surprise as my slash attack ripped up his fur and left a cut along his chest and shoulder, landing in a heap on the ground. Incapacitated for the moment, he staggered to his feet, trying to regain his senses after the unexpectedly vicious blow. I got my swords dance off and felt my muscles bulge within my skin.

I kept my slash attack in existence, facing him with determination. I heard some cheering. The other pokemon were wanting a good fight, and somehow the others had found me. Sarah looked pissed off at Keron, and if I lost, I feared he would find himself running against a much more powerful enemy with a fiery temper.

It would actually be in his best interests if I won the match.

Daemyn gave me an encouraging nod, and Erza was smiling at me. Jake waved. The others were cheering my name, their voices almost lost in the crowd. They believed I could do it. I gave a small smile in return and gave Keron my full attention once more.

The umbreon charged me again. He closed the distance between us within seconds, but this time I held my shadow claw on front of me to meet him. He leaped to try and cross me, but my much larger horn with its slash attack got in his way. I hit him again with it, and stopped him. I followed it up by striking him with my shadow claw and then jumping back.

I had done a good amount of damage to him, but now he looked much angrier than before. He growled menacingly and set himself completely aglow with that horrid energy, making it look like a wispy outline of himself surrounding him.

I did not assume for a second that my defensive trick would work against that, and so when he bolted forward, even faster, I sidestepped and formed my shadow claw into a spiked gauntlet of sorts with a mental command, punching him away and into the far wall. Even then, his aura impacted me, injuring my paw and sending me skidding back. Nevertheless, he looked to be far more damaged than before. I was in a good position for victory.

Keron vanished from my sight and I sensed him appear behind me, and I started to whirl, but I felt a powerful energy make contact with my horn, and I was forced to stop. My slash attack vanished, and Keron manually weakened me somehow. He pushed me to the ground using my horn as leverage, and having my horn grabbed messed with the mental map I was receiving, something I had come to depend on.

Then he placed one paw on my head, holding me down, fury burning in his eyes, and put the other on my horn. There was a piercing pain, and I let out a whine as my horn reacted painfully. My vision swam and my absol senses were not working properly at all, distorted and incomprehensible, and it gave me a major headache.

I heard voices, angry or worried. I could barely understand it. My vision continued to get worse until I straight up blacked out.

⽛ **Daemyn's POV** ⽛

We had been discussing whether or not to encourage Caleb to get himself a love life for quite a while as we walked. Sarah, obviously, was all for the idea, as long as she got to be the love of his life.

 _Typical_ _ **.**_

On the other hand, there was this Queen Ninetails guildmaster, who seemed to have gotten along with Caleb instantly, and was the nintetails equivalent of Caleb's age. The two got along quite well.

 _Potential._

The third one to get Caleb to fall in love with was this Amaterasu character in his dream, but we couldn't really do that. So… Which one should we try to get with Caleb?

 _Why am I even thinking that way right now?_

Probably because Caleb had mentioned it before he fled.

"So… The plan is to try both at random times and see what happens?" Erza considered "Might conflict, but if it'll get him to be embarrassed…

"That has to be worth it." Jake finished. He was really getting into this.

"Well… Caleb wouldn't like being embarrassed…" Amber murmured, unwilling to be a part of this.

There was a commotion up ahead, interrupting Amber as we moved to see who was having a little scuffle. To our astonishment, Caleb was the one being attacked. We watched as he avoided being involved for a while before being forced to defend against the umbreon's strange and unnatural attacks.

And we started cheering for him to win as friends do, just before that umbreon did something very scary looking to Caleb. Where his paws were, glowing red symbols appeared on the piece on Caleb's forehead and along his horn, and he flinched and started to whimper in pain, defeated instantly.

An espeon rushed over. "Keron, that was not necessary." she scolded softly, starting to heal Caleb's wounds with a heal pulse, but the runes stayed. I rushed over to Caleb, trying to figure out what had been done to him.

Sarah beat me to interrogating this random asshole. She stalked up to the red ringed umbreon, fire in her eyes. "What have you done to Caleb!?" she roared at him, the intensity of her gaze causing everyone, even the umbreon himself, to back up a step.

 _Welp. He's screwed._

Keron started to answer, but Sarah was not looking for an answer. We watched in a sort of fascination as Sarah opened her mouth, reared back, and sent the biggest burst of flame out of her mouth, the inferno lasting for ten seconds before petering out. Keron-and everybody else who had been behind him-had been one-hit-KO'd.

 _Wow. That was really, really strong._

I wondered if her ability was justified. The ability to increase your power if someone you care about was harmed, and increase it far more if they are defeated. That and fire moves are influenced by emotions-angering Sarah is a stupid thing to do. It resulted in that.

"Keron!" the espeon yelped, running to help her teammate. She launched a heal pulse at him as well, which fixed his wounds (with the strange exception of the scar on his face) but did not wake him.

Sarah ran over to Caleb in turn, where he was whimpering even as he was unconscious. Angry red runes glowed, three on his horn and one on the piece on his forehead. "What did that bastard do to him?" I muttered at the same time as Sarah.

The espeon came around. "I feel I must apologize for my mate's behavior. He has been on edge recently because of all the people, and he doesn't trust anybody but Austburn and I" she explained.

That did not mean that whatever he did to Caleb was all right, and Sarah shared my sentiment. "That doesn't mean it's okay to **hurt Caleb.** " she growled, sounding quite menacing. Snowshy faltered for a moment, before walking over to Caleb.

I stopped Sarah from getting in the way, believing that this one would be willing to help, while her mate was the opposite. How the two ended up together was way beyond my intellect.

She checked up on the runes planted on Caleb's head and horn. "Keron used a disorienting dark rune on his forehead The ones on his horn are more unique, but together they form a much more powerful disorienting charm.

I frowned. "Runes have dark versions?" I asked, looking at the red ringed umbreon. Snowshy nodded.

"Absol require focus to operate properly. With both his mind and absol sense addled, he wasn't able to function." Snowshy continued "That is also why Caleb was in so much pain when Keron did that. I trained myself to remove these effectively because Keron has a tendency to act out. This will take me several minutes."

Sarah wanted to stick around, but Snowshy needed space to fix Caleb, and so I led her away with the help of Erza. That was not to say the girl went quietly. "Let me go so that I can burn his tail off!" Sarah was shouting before we had to wrap her so thickly in vines that she couldn't so much as open her mouth to breathe fire.

Five minutes later, Snowshy did some psychic trick with the runes, which faded away. Caleb's expression turned from pained to calm once more, and he . "What did he do to me?" he asked immediately.

"Dark runes." I explained before anybody else could "He messed with your head and absol senses, and an absol needs both to function properly. It caused you a lot of pain and then made you black out."

Caleb stood shakily to his feet. "That sounds like some information I should have known. Who defeated him?"

"Sarah saw him do that to you."

"Ah."

Austburn came up to Caleb. "That was awesome!" he cheered. Caleb gave the kid a small smile ( _whoa, that's more smiling in one day than Caleb has done in a week_ ) and walked over to Keron.

"I do not approve of his use of such a brutal technique to incapacitate me." he commented "His actions have had lasting effects. After the first few months of my being here in this world, I have had quite enough of headaches that a heal pulse cannot cure."

He frowned down at the umbreon, who still bore a frown even while resting. "Is there any explanation towards his distrust of others like that?"

His mate and Austburn suddenly developed an interest in their toes. "...Not really." Austburn admitted "He just doesn't trust anybody. That's all."

Now Caleb's frown changed somewhat. "Distrust for no reason does not sound natural to me in any manner." he muttered "Do you believe the use of these dark runes are affecting him in more ways than altering his physical form?"

Snowshy looked pained. "...Maybe, but the runes he put on himself are much more intricate than I know how to remove. He would not allow me to anyhow." she explained.

"Then please take care to keep him in line. Such a volatile action suggests that he is, in fact, volatile."

"I am sorry for the trouble he caused you." Snowshy murmured, seeming to be unhappy that her family had made a bad impression on the famous human absol.

"Nonsense." Caleb said, startling everyone. "You are not to blame for his actions. It was a pleasure meeting you both." This was quite the turnaround, but Caleb's reasoning was sound. And hearing him sound so kind and, in a manner, gentle was great for him.

Mother and younger teammate got a somewhat relieved look about them and nodded. Caleb gave them another small smile. "I wish to see if I can reason with him a second this time. If I cannot, well, Sarah is particularly protective of me. I will be fine this time."

"He's unconscious" Jake took the time to point out.

"Not long, if the somewhat worried looks his mate is giving him is any indication, I believe he is due to recover in a minute or so, perhaps less." he informed us. I blinked. He had noticed that? how? I certainly hadn't noticed. The two members of the umbreon's team were quite surprised as well, but they said nothing.

Keron began to stir just about the minute and a half mark. He twitched, stopped, and then bolted up, looking about suspiciously at everyone. "What is the meaning of this!?" he growled out.

Caleb stepped forward. "Please calm yourself. I simply wish to discuss things." he explained, drawing Keron's attention from Sarah and the others to him.

" **You.** " He growled " **Get away from my family!** "

At that roar, he glowed and charged. Sarah lunged in front of him, bracing herself, and an azure glow came from her body. The red ringed umbreon crashed into her and stopped head, staggering back as Sarah's glow faded.

 _Nice protect there._

"Thank you, Sarah." he told the beaming absol "Keron, I do not wish to fight. In fact, while you were unconscious, I believe I have done my best to analyze your behavior. It is likely that your excessive distrust of others is a direct result of the runes you have burned into your skin under the fur. The aggression as well."

"Oh, who cares?" he snarled at me "Now get out of here before I attack you again."

That was not a good way to pull the trigger on oneself. Sarah was in his face and growling menacingly. "Did you just threaten my Caleb?" she growled. Considering that she had one hit KO'd the guy earlier, as well as a bunch of random people in the crowd, she has earned herself-and Caleb by extension-as much space as they like.

"Oi! Did you really just claim **ownership** of me!?" Caleb exclaimed, stepping back. Sarah looked over to him with a strange smile, which made Caleb freeze on the spot.

"Yep."

"...I actually think I would be safer if I were to fight Keron" Caleb muttered, walking around Sarah, giving the girl a very wide berth, and went to speak with beforementioned umbreon away from the girl. "Listen, those runes make you powerful, but I see no other reason for you to be so easily aggravated and suspicious towards others. It would be best for you to remove them."

"No."

 _At least that was a somewhat civilized answer_ _compared to normal._

"Those runes are dangerous."

"To you, perhaps. I can and will demonstrate."

Caleb and I both frowned at the threat. "Is there any reasoning with you?" Caleb asked after a pause. He was grimacing.

"No."

Caleb's grimace deepened. He looked towards the other two, who looked very conflicted. Finally, he grew a stern tone in his voice. "Take care of your family and friend, then." he ordered "Do not subject them to what you subject others to."

Now the umbreon looked really angry. "How dare you!?" he snarled at my friend "I would never harm my family!"

Caleb's frown disappeared at that. He gave a very small smile instead. "Good." was his reply as he began to walk away "I believe you." he added over his shoulder "It is quite clear you would do anything for your family. Now, I will take my leave. Come along, Sarah, no roasting him today."

I understood then what Caleb had just done. He had developed a full profile of the red ringed umbreon just there. He cared for his family and team, and nobody else, that one. Caleb had discovered that over time, finding a cause for his troubles and also assuring that the others were safe.

Keron stood silent at Caleb's turnaround. My friend was a freaking genius. He walked away without a fight, and after I gave the strange trio a nod, I ran after him to join him. "Nice." I complimented, coming up beside the armored absol.

"Thank you." Caleb replied. I noticed that his smile had gone. "I was attempting to avoid further confrontation, and also intending to ensure the safety of his team, or rather, family." he continued.

I nodded. He was explaining himself as if he was doing something wrong or something. "What you need" I told him "Is somebody you will actually believe when they compliment you."

"I agreed with your sentiment." the absol refuted.

"No, you deflected the compliment and explained yourself as if you had done something wrong." I retorted, walking in front of him and stopping him "What exactly is wrong with being complimented?"

My demand stopped him for a moment. He looked at me with eyes that held a bit of sadness in them. "Being thanked was… unusual for me in my old life. Many exploits of mine were only rewarded with success in school. Additionally, I have endangered multiple people, including you. They constantly tell me that they owe me a debt. The reality, a reality I will not accept your denial for, is that I owe everyone a debt that cannot properly be repaid, because I endangered many lives with my recent mistakes, and no help I can give will ever set that right. On the other hand, I enjoy helping as well. It gives me a sense of accomplishment and temporarily reduces my everlasting guilt."

I had no response to that. Caleb's explanation clearly made sense to him, and when I thought about it myself, he had several points. He had nearly hurt us, an action he believed was a sign of him being a danger to others. He believed it was him that owed an everlasting debt. And to top it all off, he was not used to being thanked, making it feel weird when people fawn over him just for being around to help.

However…

"The danger is past." I began "You are not some threat that needs to be contained. It was an **accident** , for cryin' out loud. Two, owing a debt does not mean that others can't owe you one, and at this point, you don't owe any of us anything. It was us making things difficult for you that was part of the influence that kept you here. Third, I get that you might feel weird about being fawned over by a bunch of random people, but that's what happens in our line of work. We all have to get used to it, and so do you. Even if it is for a different reason."

Caleb was silent. He looked me in the eye for a moment, but he then broke eye contact to look away, ashamed. "I always knew those things. I don't allow myself to know because I am not ready to forgive myself." he explained "I refuse to understand that because I do not want to be forgiven, really. Until I came here, I was completely free of the burden of having committed any crime. Such an age that I am at is not one you want to start breaking morals and laws at. It is…. traumatising, and I must recover from that first."

Now it was my turn to be silent again. He was in such inner torment from so many angles; his instincts, his past life, his recent failures… He blamed himself for all of it and the worst part was, no matter how much we tried to make him feel better, he was at fault. The difference between his friends and himself is that I… We were all willing to forgive him without hesitation, whereas he refused to forgive himself.

"...Why do you have such a hard time forgiving yourself?" I asked him. His face did not change in the slightest as he replied.

"Because if I forgive, I will forget, and to forget could allow it to happen again."

"...Would it really be so easy to forget if you let yourself stop thinking about it constantly?" I asked him, and he nodded.

"It would for me. What I remember and what I do not remember is a complicated system. The major reason I remain knowledgeable about the human world to the extent that I do is that that knowledge is constantly in use. Few things are permanently ingrained in my mind." he explained.

I shook my head now, seeing a flaw. "Caleb, you have been going on for weeks about literally having a different brain, and noting how it changes your instincts and in some ways thought process. Do you actually think that this memory problem would carry over? I don't find it likely at all."

"I am **not** willing to take that chance." Caleb retorted, eyes narrowing just slightly.

"Well, **I** am." I told him straight out, and he blinked in surprised "I am willing to help you forgive yourself, and if you forget, all the better. You're not going to run around with an identical supersword capable of turning people into horrifying monsters. You don't even have the chance to repeat the earlier mistake with that portal, and you couldn't kill any of us even if you did fly into a random rage that makes no sense. For once, Caleb, your logic is **flawed**. The mistakes you made have literally no chance of happening again even if you did become an amnesiac or forget the events based on a mistake, which I will take the liberty of telling you that you will not forget because that is not an affliction that pokemon have ever gotten. There is **nothing** to worry about forgetting, so shut up and move on, all right?"

While Caleb was at a loss for words at my harsh tone, I sighed and calmed my increasing volume and tone. "I get that it will take a while. Believe me, I **understand**. All of us do. But with us around, that recovery will be quick and painless."

Caleb was going to interrupt, but I got closer and continued. "If it's the last thing any of us ever do, **you** are going to recover, **you** are going to forgive yourself, and if I have to drag you to Goldeneye or Braixen and **force** that memory from your mind if you resist, I **will**. It's my job to make you as happy of a person as I can get you to be. We are going to help you. Help you with your trauma, help you integrate into this world…"

I gave a grin, and put my paw on his shoulder. "And so help me, we are going to help you get a girlfriend because you need to **chill the heck out** , and I can't think of a better way to do it than finding you somebody you can relate to and will wind up liking and enjoying the company of."

I shut up and let him search for words. Finally, he spoke. "...I cannot distinguish the differences between my real emotions and my instincts. Until I can do that, I refuse to commit to anyone."

I smiled. He had not contradicted me on the rest of my points. If he had any valid argument, he would have voiced it. "First, promise me that you are going to **let us help you** , and after that, shut up. 'Cause we are going to do what I said we would, and **you** are going to have to deal with it. We can work out the details of the girlfriend thing later."

"Daemyn… I don't-"

"Promise me, Caleb."

Caleb stopped. He sighed. "...Your points are valid. I have been acting foolish. You deserve my full cooperation." he replied.

"That was not what I wanted to hear. Say it."

"...I promise to allow you to help me recover and help me forgive myself, and I promise that I will attempt to forgive myself as well." he finally said, and I gave a mental cheer. I had just won an argument with Caleb.

 _Damn, I'm good._

"However…" Caleb started, looking me in the eye "I **will** fight tooth and claw to fight these infernal instincts. Understand that."

I grinned at him again. "Got it." That wasn't going to stop me and the rest of us from trying. It would be fun to see if we could at least get the bloke to blush. Fun times. Who were our candidates? Well, Sarah was obviously one, even if she was overbearing, she was a caring individual otherwise (I would **never** say that to her face though,). The next one that we could see was Queen Ninetails. A freaking guildmaster, so that would prove to be a challenge, but she was the equivalent of Caleb's age in ninetails years, and both were at the point of instinct influencing them.

Two was a good number. If we found more, we could try to do that, but who would Caleb choose if he really had to choose one? Questions for another time. I had a few different questions to ask. "Caleb, how did you know before you asked that that Keron bloke cared so much about his family compared to the rest of us?" I asked.

Caleb now smiled softly. "It was an educated guess that one." he said, and I just stayed silent and waited. Caleb finally decided that I really wanted my answer, so my friend continued. "His teammate, the one that seemed to be an adopted son of sorts between the two, bore a neckerchief of sorts. One covered in glowing red runes. A gift, it would be valid to assume, from his adopted father."

I blinked. "I didn't see the neckerchief." I protested, trying to recall the trio.

"You didn't **notice** the neckerchief." Caleb corrected. At any rate, he was not hostile towards me until I approached his family, at which point he was extremely distrustful and rough. Snowshy, whatever species she is-"

"Espeon."

"Snowshy the espeon clearly cared for him, and looked very conflicted when I decided that it was most likely that the magic he uses influences his antisocial and pessimistic personality due to there being no other known cause and that Snowshy has clearly known him for a long time."

"...Huh." I finally replied. So team Blinding Darkness is those three then,"

"Pardon?"

"Team Blinding Darkness was on their badge."

"Admittedly, I did not look at that." Caleb admitted, flinching.

"Come off it" I scolded, batting him in the shoulder with my paw "You have no reason to be sorry or worried that you missed one bit of information."

Caleb nodded and looked away. "I ap-"

"And quit apologizing before Erza finds us and decides that you look like a great target for her flail."

Caleb finished his nod and shut up. I took the opportunity to speak again. "So then. Are you going to let us help you this time, or was that an empty promise?"

I was challenging him, but he did not seem to mind. Instead, he looked grateful. He looked me in the eyes, a softer and more accepting look in his eye that suggested that he was willing to change now. "Thank you, Daemyn." he told me, a genuine smile appearing on his face.

Needless to say, it was both a victory and a relieving situation. Erza and Sarah appeared on either side of him, Sarah nuzzling him and Erza draping her arm over his neck. "Well then! First thing's first!" Erza exclaimed "Celebration!"

"Hang on, can't we be calm about this!?" Caleb exclaimed back, trying to get away from the girls, but even being physically the strongest, he seemingly could not get away. "Please?"

"Nah, let's go do something fun!" Sarah agreed with Erza. They dragged him away together, and Jake laughed near me as those two got away with what Jake had not done earlier. I shook my head, a smile on my face, and followed the duo and their captive.

 _Hah. We're making progress. First he smiles, and then…_

I looked after them as they traveled, keeping Caleb trapped between them as my friend was led to some random place where we would figure something out. We had not actually done any planning after all. I stood by as he called for his own release, because this was play. He was in no danger, and it was quite amusing. I **caught** him smiling even as he fought against them.

The next order of business would be getting him somebody who he would listen to immediately, someone he liked. I started discussion some potential candidates with Jake, who had started out the conversation somewhat confused.

"Why are we suddenly playing matchmaking with him?" he asked, looking towards the armored absol.

"Two reasons. One, he needs somebody he will listen to with less hesitation in case he gets all depressed again, and two, it's going to be **hilarious**."

"Valid reasons." Jake nodded.

"I-I don't know if I want a part of this." Amber said, appeaing **right** next to me.

"Guh!" I exclaimed, jumping to the side away from her. "Where did you come from!?"

"I-I guess I was just quiet." Amber explained a little too quicklly. I frowned. I should have **smelled** her. I could do so now, so how had she gotten there? There were a lot of things off about her. I had been sneaking up on her that day in the forest, there had been a flash of light, and then I was waking up in the clearing surrounded my friends. It had **hurt** too! What kind of power was she hiding?

"Well, you don't have to. It's just a bit of fun, and we can all do other things as well." I agreed. Caleb would not like this, and Amber seemed to be sentimental towards that cause.

 _Hmm…_

 _Nah._

"I think it's about time we have lunch." Swampert reminded us all as every single one of us realized we were starving, and the sound of grumbling stomachs filled the air around us. I paused, and gave a chuckle, and most of us started laughing.

"Yes, Yes it is." I replied happily.

* * *

 **Well then! This one was long. I got carried away massively.**

 **If anybody is wondering where the mysterious human characters with apparent extreme power and knowledge have gone, there is simply no reason to have a portion with their reactions in every chapter. If they have nothing to say about what they are seeing, they will not have a scene at the end. It will be quite a while before they are given any proper explanation.**

 **That is, if you do not happen upon another story where the guardians exist, or at least show up. There is one other on by Aurorabeam Corporation. That one actually explains them better than this story will do for quite a while. Their explanation and development is meant to occur in all sorts of stories, not all of them my own, due to the cooperation or request of other authors.**

 **In all of my stories, you have seen few of them in detail, though the ones with the most dialougue and prevelance in my stories thus far have been life, darkness, and time, in different stories of mine, and the guardian of magic and technology are also prevelent in one of Aurorabeam Corporation's stories (i'll let you guys find out which one.)**

 **But that's enough information about them. The rest should be told throughout all of my stories, and some others as well, so it will be a little like digging for gold.**

 **About the chapter. I figured it was about time somebody gave Caleb a good smackdown in an actual battle, and Daemyn was just the mightyena for the job to make him see sense about his constant self hatred. He still won't like some of the other things happening to him of course.**

 **Nopemanor, am severely sorry if I have not displayed your recent set of OC's as well as I have others. I was not as confident about how I wrote that group, and felt the need to elaborate a bit. I also hope you liked the way I manefested the dark magic, because that was my plan for dark magic's use in the first place in the story.**

 **That was a mouthful and a half... Anyways, leave your review, tell me what you thought (please) and I will see you lot when New Age is updated! And when TAC2 is updated after that. Good day, everyone!**

 **-Hyperjade**


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Hello, everyone! Welcome back to The Absolite Chronicles.**

 **Amber: It's been a while.  
**

 **Me: It has indeed. I got a bit carried away with writing, and so got this chapter and a New Age chapter (and a half) done by today. That said, I intended to make this chapter much shorter, making this story and New Age get back to 8k to 10k words per chapter. As you can tell, I got carried away. Again. This time, I used time skips and still got to 13k words! I am bad at making short chapters!**

 **Jango: Yep!**

 **Amber: Shut up, Jango. Hyper, you're doing fine.**

 **Me: *sighs* thank you, Amber. Anyways, let's get to reviews and then start the chapter.**

 **Amber: Westernfail: two chapters... As this chapter happened.**

 **Jango: Oh, they had some spectacular attempts to get him a girlfriend. I used some of those later to mess with people. Y'know, when I was alive.**

 **Me: Spoilers!**

 **Jango: It's not like you were going to show all of my shenanigans... Anyways, Yes. Truly earth shattering Raven. You have stunned us all.**

 **Me: Yes, it is designed for the audience, AKA you lot, to have a choice: Sympathize with Caleb, or sit back and watch the show. We all know Jango's choice.**

 **Jango *in the background, rereading last chapter* Yes! Ruin his life! Make him suffer!**

 **Amber: *sweatdrops*  
**

 **Me: Glad to see you're back, Nopemanor. Glad you enjoyed the chapter. Rocketiermaster, I want to withhold the rest of the information in that regard for the purpose of discovery.**

 **Amber: It did happen, Phillip. That helping hand thing works really well to boost things, and since they both used it, and their power combined and expanded, their earth power was incredibly powerful. And the legendaries in this world have very impressive powers, just like the rest of the pokemon in our universe.**

 **Jango: Remember to make the distinction between Queen, the nidoqueen, and Ninetails, who is called a queen rather than a guildmaster. It'll let you keep your head later, ZLAXE**

 **Me: Thank you, Nerdy Retard, for reviewing. It's great to have you on board.  
**

 **Jango: You and me both, Nerdy Retard. Hehehe...**

 **Amber: Uh... I think that's it.**

 **Me: Right then. Before I accidentally give this chapter another thousand words... Chapter start!**

* * *

 **Chapter 11: Final Preparations**

 **Erza's POV**

"Food!" I cheered, tossing an cherI berry up and catching it in my mouth, letting the slightly spicy taste wash over me before grabbing the next one in the bunch in the bowl in front of me. The others gave me varying degrees of confirmation as they ate lunch as well.

Caleb was taking his time at the moment, and Sarah was careful to pace herself with him. Perfect. I casually ate and spoke with them while Caleb only joined in occasionally. The guy had been through so much. The quiet absol simply had not lived the life that makes everyone else so talkative and friendly with each other.

Sometimes, Jake would go quiet as well. I had not known him much before Caleb had shown up, but he occasionally went quiet as if remembering something. Like he was doing now. He was occasionally speaking with Swampert, but both of them were now reserved. I could **not** let that go by.

"Oi, you two." I called across our table "One sullen bloke is plenty. What's gotten into you?"

Jake jumped at my words, waving his arms about as he tipped his chair back and fell over. "Nicely done." one of us deadpanned, but I was now focused on the raichu. He climbed back up, and shook his head at me.

"I'll be fine. I was just remembering Grovyle." he responded. Daemyn and I looked at him in confusion, as did Caleb.

"Grovyle… I do not remember you mentioning the name." Caleb informed him. Jake rubbed the back of his head, though the look on his face was not sheepish. Just sort of… Unreadable.

"Apparently, before I came to the past, Grovyle had been my partner when I was a human." he began "I was forced to separate from him on my way to Dialga to prevent time from stopping. He was… He was apparently my partner as we were trying to prevent that future from happening. We got separated in the timestream, and I lost my memories and became a pikachu. But when we beat the primal Dialga, and set the time gears in place, that future disappeared. Grovyle would have disappeared. I should have too, but Dialga saved me as thanks for stopping the planet's paralysis."

Caleb was silent for a while. "This Grovyle… Did you come to understand him when you met him again?" he inquired. Jake looked down.

"Not really… That's what bothers me sometimes. He was really difficult to understand, and showed little emotion about things towards us until a few times, when we learned that we used to be partners, and when he shoved Dusknoir into the dimensional hole with him… Otherwise, he was mostly focused on the mission. Not much talking, but he told me that we had been friends, as did Celebi." Jake replied.

"Then I will not press the matter." Caleb nodded "If it pains you to recall it so."

"You're so considerate." Sarah complimented, going to give him a nuzzle and getting her face slammed rather casually into the table by Caleb, who had acquired a smirk on his face. I started to wonder if Sarah did have a chance with him. If she wasn't so overbearing, she could probably capture his attention, instincts or not. Problem was, she was that way.

While Caleb had Sarah in the quadruped equivalent of a headlock, which consisted of one (or two) paws holding the other's face down on a surface, Daemyn locked eyes with me and motioned to the corner, and gestured to the others.

We **had** been talking for quite a while, and had mostly eaten our fill for lunch, except for those two. "Well, this has been fun…" I started "but there are some things that the rest of us need to discuss, and you two are to keep on eating."

My order got Caleb to raise his head from where he had been taking a bite out of his pecha berry. "I will make an effort not to be involved in your silly pairing scheme." he replied before going back to his food as if he wasn't going to stop us. I got up, followed by most except for Shedinja and Amber and her team.

We reached the corner of the room and began to speak in hushed whispers. "Alright. Caleb's recovery. We need to find him somebody he might actually like. Ninetails and him are similar, and I thought Ninetails might like him if they got to know each other." I began in a hushed tone.

Jake nodded, and then whispered back: "Sarah would actually be a good fit for him if we could get her to be a lot less overbearing." We all nodded.

"Who else is there for that?" Daemyn inquired. I frowned. There were very few other options. Those two did fit with Caleb well.

"Let's stick with those two. Give Caleb equal opportunity to understand them, and let him pick which one." I offered "We will have to be extremely sneaky about setting him and Sarah together, nothing obvious, but we can more openly arrange meetings between him and Ninetails, as the two wish to talk again anyways."

"So we're not actually trying to get anybody together, just trying to get Caleb to get to know them really well and let him decide?" Riolu input from Swampert's shoulder. The larger pokemon was silent.

"That is what Caleb would prefer" I said, and Daemyn decided to finish the thought for me.

"And he deserves our full cooperation after what has happened to him since coming here." Daemyn finished for me. I nodded to him, and Jake got a somewhat guilty look about him.

"...What happened?" Riolu asked, dropping down to be on our level. Daemyn sighed and gestured to the spot between and a little ways away from us. The pokemon obediently walked to the right spot and we began to tell the story.

"Alright, you know that Caleb was human before, right?" I began "And that he did not lose his memory?"

"Yeah! It's pretty cool that he got to keep his memories. He's really smart, too." Riolu complimented.

"He woke up in crystal community. Apparently, absolutely nothing happened that should have put him there. He fell asleep at home and woke up there. Not only that, Sarah found him immediately. While she helped him get started, she fell for him extremely quickly and stayed close to him." Daemyn continued.

"He had a drive to get home, probably because his memory was still there and could remember his old friends and family." I informed him.

We alternated like that for quite a while as we told the story. "He traveled with Sarah and then Nincada to find the guild. At Sarah's urging, he formed a rescue team with her and Nincada, in the hopes that travelling to new places could tell him how he could get home."

"The guy was a genius. I met him during one of his first days, and from that day he started setting me straight. he did this for Erza as well. Not long after he met us, we were friends, despite me being horrid towards Sarah in front of him and Erza being…"

"I wasn't the best leader." I supplied. "Anyways, Caleb got through the weirdly changed waterfall cavern, and we found the three orbs, a lustrous orb for Palkia, and two more, possibly for Dialga and one other. Caleb later gave this item to Palkia, only asking that Palkia find a way to get him home, and Palkia, impressed with his selflessness, agreed easily."

"A few days later, and Palkia comes back telling Caleb that he has a way to send Caleb back home, and that they must travel across the region to get there. Sarah was desperate for Caleb to stay then. I was smitten with her at the time, so she managed to convince me to help her. Even then, I planned to try and help Caleb through, but I couldn't say no to her face."

"I realized what Sarah was doing when Nincada found me, and I was **not** happy. I moved to chase her and Daemyn down. However, I was not fast enough, and by the time I had gotten there…"

"Everything had turned for the worse. Sarah and I made it before Caleb, but a dark energy that had been building in my body for a long time finally became too much, and I was turned into a giant, raging monster by it. I almost… I almost k… I can't talk about it like that. I hurt Sarah, and Caleb found that, and he became enraged at what had happened. The old sword he used to have burst and dark energy had formed within it because of his emotions, doing the same to him."

"I made it in time to defend Sarah from the two of them, but I didn't stand a chance. After all of that, the guild members arrived and we tried to fend them off, until Caleb drained the energy out of Daemyn and became far larger and darker than before. He was intent on taking us apart."

"But after Sarah was healed and learned heal pulse, we fought until Caleb took us all down. It went that way until we were all defeated, and Sarah woke up just before Caleb ripped somebody into several pieces. It wasn't his fault; he couldn't have known what potential that sword had."

"She apparently grabbed one of the crystal shards, and it had the opposite reaction to Caleb's dark form, neutralizing the dark power and destroying it, causing Caleb to go back to normal. He had no memory of that particular incident."

"After that, Caleb went to meet Palkia at the portal, and after a long time, realized that he couldn't do it. He had a family to return to, and friends, and he felt like it was his duty, but… he liked this world. He had friends and the world was so much nicer, with so much less crime and no wars… He could not make himself leave. That, I think, was what made him so angry with himself. He felt that he had betrayed his family and friends by staying, when they would think he had… Died."

As Daemyn said this, I had feared that Riolu would react badly to the word, and he did indeed flinch. I hurried onwards. "Everyone was in danger of that in that cave, but we pulled through. After Caleb realized that he could not make himself leave, he gained that horrible broken glass look in his eyes. He silently walked away, still crying about it, which is the first and last time any of us has seen him properly cry. Sarah, desperate to get to him, found out that he had put himself to sleep with his badge and was just… awaiting starvation."

"Sarah, with the help of a drowzee, entered Caleb's dream, and was attacked on many fronts. Not his nightmares, no, but the protectors of his dream world, and a guardian who was to keep others away from the mountain where Caleb had chosen to stay and wait everything out. He drove himself mad up on the ice, overthinking the situation so much that he drove himself into a frenzy of anger and hatred towards Sarah, the world, and himself."

"But Sarah went to find him anyways, almost being taken apart by a giant tank, whatever a tank is, called Sheila, and also nearly being beaten down by a human construct named Riley. After all of that, she made it to him, and, as enraged as he was, **he** attacked her. He wanted revenge for everything he had lost, and blaming Sarah was easier and less painful than blaming himself. it let him be angry instead of sad. Sadness… Is a harder emotion to deal with."

"Sarah, after nearly being destroyed by Caleb, managed to calm him, and brought him back, but he's been beating himself up over what he did to himself, Sarah, and the rest of us ever since. he is convinced it's his fault. As much as we want him to forgive himself, he was responsible, so it's really hard to get him to see sense."

"Lately, he's also been suffering because his instincts have been affecting his mind in ways they never have before, and he has to fight with all of his might to avoid falling in love with anyone. That also makes his life harder. He… Well, he suffers a lot, and today was a huge leap forward for him. We need to drive that home, and find a way to deal with his instincts. The best way… Would be getting somebody he can decide to fall in love with so it's over and done with." I finished.

Riolu looked between the two of us, clearly unsure of what to say. The normally energized riolu was quiet for a while. He had never heard of the kinds of things that Caleb had gone through. "Well…" he murmured "That's why we're trying to help him, right?"

Daemyn and I smiled, and Jake evidently could not hold back a smile either. The adorable optimistic kid. I certainly felt optimistic watching him focus on the future. Willing to help, like the rest of us. "Exactly." I agreed. "We need to start making plans…"

Daemyn got a evil looking grin. "I'm full of ideas already." he stated, and leaned in. He whispered a bunch of scenarios, where and when they could happen, and how we could… turn them into something else. I also gave an evil grin at those ideas.

"That will be perfect. We must discuss this more." I told the group. We were then interrupted by Sarah.

"Uh, hey guys." she greeted "Caleb sent me away for a moment, told me to let him think for a moment, though I think he's talking with Shedinja at the moment. Maybe instructions, I don't know."

"...Shouldn't team strategy talks involve their teammates?" Daemyn inquired, surprised that Caleb would send Sarah off somewhere to discuss something with Shedinja when he could not understand him, so Caleb must be talking about Sarah in some way.

"It's probably important." Sarah shrugged off the question, either confident in Caleb's reasoning, or saddened that he did not want her around when he was talking with Shedinja. Riolu looked at Sarah, concerned. I realized that Sarah must be feeling the latter, and trying to hide it. I had heard that riolus could feel emotions of others.

While I knew that Caleb needed his space once in a while, considering how overbearing Sarah was towards him, He likely **did** have a different reason for sending her away. He treated her right, even if he was trying to avoid being in a relationship. He was a good person like that.

"What is so important that he would make you leave?" Jake asked her. She sighed and looked towards where Caleb was murmuring quietly to Shedinja, who silently nodded occasionally.

"I don't know… What are you guys talking about?" she asked of us. I met everybody's eyes.

"We were just discussing Caleb, actually, but the decisions we are making do involve you. We can't make decisions based on what you want because our discussion you would have reason to be talking about, but we can talk about that later. Join us and talk with us now." I offered.

She smiled and sat. "Talking about his love life, huh?" she asked "I would love to be the focus of that, but you probably want to give him other people to talk to as well and let him make a choice, huh?"

Most of us stared at her, dumbfounded. "A-are you really Sarah?" Daemyn stammered, totally caught off his guard.

"Yeah." she replied "I learned how to figure out things by being around Caleb a lot. And for what you probably meant, I don't know. When I'm near Caleb, it is extremely difficult to focus on anything else. I can't control myself when he's around much… My emotions get in the way of reason, and I don't know how to deal with that."

We stared at her, trying to figure this lapse of what could be likened to Caleb worshipping going on.

"But you don't want to hear about that." she nodded to her own statement "Yeah. Let's talk about something else. I'll let you get back to that when I go back to Caleb." her expression changed into a more dreamy state the moment she mentioned going back to Caleb.

Daemyn looked me in the eye. His eyes said 'something's strange here.' and I silently agreed here. I quickly changed the topic, though I'm sure I did it poorly. "So… how did you feel seeing the arena being risen?" I lamely asked.

 **Caleb's POV**

I had finally let go of Sarah and had continued eating my food when I had the idea. How long it had taken me to think of was rather disconcerting, as I should have come up with it the moment I knew we would be acting as a team in fights.

The others had been having their chat, but Sarah did not need to be here for this. "Sarah, I need to have a discussion with Shedinja." I told her. She gave me a confused look. "Yes, I know what I said." I told her "Strategy. Plans."

"...Okay." she murmured dejectedly, making me feel terrible. I stopped her quickly before she slunk away.

"I'm sorry Sarah, but this is important." I apologized. I never liked hurting her. It was just painful. She might actually be a really nice person if she would leave me alone. She nodded, somewhat pacified, and walked towards the others. My chest hurt with that. She took every rejection I openly said so harshly… Yet she seemed to find it amusing when I physically ran from her shenanigans.

I generally have difficulty understanding girls, but this one was in a league of her own in complexity, under the basic fallback she seemed to use that boiled down to 'Caleb, how much I adore thou!'. I understood a lot of people, and could learn who they were, what they were like, predict them… Not Sarah. It was not often I found something to help me predict her.

I tightened my lips as she left, feeling like I had been very, very cold. " **Shedinja** " Shedinja told me from my right.

"Yes… I know. At any rate, I need to discuss things with you. Do you remember what happened when Keron defeated me?"

" **Shedinja.** "

"The important thing is that Sarah's attacks increase monstrously in power when I am defeated in front of her." I continued. He nodded. "Which is why I need to take hits for her in combat. Her extensive power could crush most opponents when angry, and nothing makes her angrier than me being defeated. Basically, we must make sure that if anybody is to fall in battle first, it must be me."

" **Shedinja**."

"Sarah would not allow me to put myself in the way of harm for her. For that reason, she cannot know that part of the plan. I should be able to calculate how I can make my shielding of her believable. If it is believable, she will buy into the act and take the pokemon down, and any collateral damage would be nice."

Shedinja seemed to understand. He nodded again and looked to the others, who were speaking with Sarah. I watched for a while as they started to talk about how impressive bringing the arena up had been, and it really had. I agreed wholeheartedly. I was actually amazed by it, and I don't gawk at things often.

Granted, whatever hand holding trick they had done clearly supercharged their power. Even so… Two pokemon built an arena for thousands of pokemon in mere minutes, without the apparently impossibly versatile magic that I would imagine things depended on around here.

Still, my mind was addled just after watching it. Having my mind addled wasn't fun. I could accept that manner of screwing with my head because it was normal, natural. My instincts may technically be natural, but I would not have my emotions controlled by something that is not supposed to be a part of me as a human.

Even as I vowed to act human like I have been claiming since I have gotten here, I blinked as I found myself licking up the scraps in my bowl like I have been doing it all my life. I almost stopped, but the residual liquid in the bowl was delicious. That aside, it seemed to be working out for me. Some of my instincts helped me. Some of them tortured me. Picking and choosing which to allow would be quite the mental workout.

Eventually, I got to the point where I felt like I had done that long enough, and I moved to join the others again. Sarah immediately lunged for me, and went to do… something. Could have been a kiss or a lick or a nuzzle, nobody ever found out because I had casually put her face into the dirt again with one paw. "What have I missed?" I inquired. Sarah's muffled answer came from the dirt under her face.

"Just sharing what we thought of the arena." Erza replied with a shrug "What were you thinking when it happened?"

"I was astonished, and impressed." I responded "and I had not expected it to be brought about without the magic that people seem so dependant on thus far. Furthermore, the arena was highly detailed, suggesting that Queen and King have been practicing with the technique for a long period of time."

Jake now nudged Riolu. "I did say that he could turn the words 'it was cool' into a fifty word paragraph." he whispered, plenty loud enough to be heard, while Riolu gave a childish giggle at the revelation.

"You counted?" I questioned, my head tilted in confusion. The others burst out laughing at me, and even Sarah had a look in her eyes and face that suggested humor. "What is it now?"

"You tilting your head. Just let instincts handle it, silly." Erza chuckled "you looked plain ridiculous with your head tilted so far."

I blinked. "My head was at approximately thirty degrees west of north" I protested "That distance is not much at all."

"That did look pretty funny." Daemyn remarked, "please, ignore Erza, and keep providing us with something to laugh at." I frowned at this now, and they started laughing more.

I envisioned myself, how I must have looked on the outside doing that, and realized that thirty degrees was a rather noticeable change from the barest tilt. I **would** have looked ridiculous. I found myself chuckling as well, until all of us had had a good laugh at myself.

"Well, it's time we get going to do whatever today." Erza finally took charge and set us to thinking what we could do.

"Idea!" Jake exclaimed, waving his left paw around. The last time he did that, I got dragged several hundred feet by an excited human turned raichu. I leapt away as fast as I could, which set all of us laughing again at my unwillingness to be dragged anywhere. I myself found it funny.

 _It is interesting, the effect on my mind that these people have. Amber, Jake, Erza, Daemyn, Sarah, and Shedinja are who I am closest to. I can laugh with them… could I even play? be a child again? It is certainly a possibility nowadays._

"W-What did you have in mind?" Amber hesitantly inquired from where she now stood next to me. I had barely seen her coming, which was impressive. She managed to be so quiet, so safeguarded. Jake gave us all a grin.

"How about we all take on a dungeon? They get tougher when groups more than four enter, you know. it could be a challenge for us. I say we head to amp plains and all walk in at the same time. It should work." he suggested.

"One moment." I distracted the raichu "what of the time Erza, Daemyn, and I travelled to the waterfall cave? The difficulty fluctuated constantly, and considering what I saw, having more people did not make the enemies much tougher on that first floor."

"To be fair" Daemyn spoke up "Something was **seriously** wrong with that dungeon when we went to deal with it as a group searching for treasure. I'm sure you can agree."

"...Fair point. If there are no other ideas, some last minute practice should do perfectly. Where are the amp plains?" I decided.

"North a ways." Jake shrugged "We just head in that direction and it's big enough that we'll get there. It's one of those dungeons you enter just by being in the area."

"Right then." Erza decided, looking towards the tangela twins who had been silently hanging out behind her. "You two want to come?"

They looked at each other, and back to Erza. "We found friends in the crowd from another place." they informed her. Erza chuckled, amused.

"Then go play. Have fun." she told them, and turned back to us.

I looked over to see Machoke and Bastiodon talking with Daemyn, looking rather bored. "If I have to take a wild guess, I would say that they don't feel like going anywhere either." I guessed "They likely wish to get the extra resting time prior to the tournament."

"Well, I'm going with." Sarah proclaimed, standing as close as she could to me without being slammed into the ground again. I nodded, and we gathered our things.

We were off to Amp Plains.

LINE BREAK

⌁ **Jake's POV ⌁**

Lightning flashed. Low grass, dirt, and random boulders dominated the area. I led the way, having the most experience with this place, while Amber had the back, trying to be as invisible as possible. I did not know what to make of her, really. She was human like me, and had lost her memory, but she was… different. The girl was very strange, and I could not figure her out.

I wanted to know more about her; she was so confusing. The girl was abnormally powerful, like I was. However, Amber seemed to be in a league of her own. The weird thing was that she still feared people. I couldn't make heads or tails of why she, possibly the most powerful of all of us, shied away from unknown pokemon.

I finally could not stand it as we were about to walk into the dungeon. "Amber, are you all right?" I inquired, turning. The others halted with me. Caleb had been giving Amber concerned looks as well, but he tended to fully analyze the situation before getting involved. I was not like that.

"W-well…" she stammered, now that everybody's attention was on her. Caleb met my eyes and understood the situation.

"Let's not all stare at Amber now." he instructed "We shall wait over here while Jake speaks with her." He padded off, most of the others obediently following his lead. Swampert, after a nod from me, left as well. This seemed to be important.

"I… Well, I'm a bit scared… is all." Amber admitted "I've never been in this dungeon before, and we're going in with more people than is suggested for a dungeon, which I also have never done before... It's scary."

"Ah." I nodded "Well, I know this place pretty well, and you seem to be stronger than all of us from what i've seen. What's so scary about it?"

"..." Amber said nothing for a bit. "I-I don't know why. I'm sorry…"

"Don't be." Charizard and I reassured her at the same time. "you'll do fine. I'm certain of it." I told her confidently. She hesitated before giving me a weak smile, and looked towards the others and back.

"S-shall we continue?"

"...Sure."

I waved the others over and we continued moving. I instructed the others to stay close as we neared the dungeon. Places like this one had a really startling effect when you entered, and I knew Caleb had not seen it before. Amber might be afraid, so I decided to say something. "For those who don't know, don't be alarmed. This dungeon has walls, making a maze. You notice that the walls don't exist right now. Try not to panic, but they're going to rise out of the ground from the distance towards us. Don't worry is all I'm saying, because it won't hit us."

Most of us nodded, though Amber hid behind Charizard. I stepped forward, and everybody moved with me. In the distance, we saw the ground shift. Rectangular chunks of earth rose in the distance, and suddenly a wave of rising earth with lapses in the change was racing towards us at intense speeds.

Amber froze and squeezed her eyes shut, and Charizard rubbed her back comfortingly with a huge claw, not hurting her. The earthen material roared past us, and we were suddenly in a room in the dungeon. Items came out of the ground; this room had an oran berry and a helpful cherI berry in it, which we pocketed immediately.

"That was interesting." Caleb commented blandly.

"That was awesome!" Riolu exclaimed; the kid had sparkles in his eyes. I wondered how much dungeon experience he had at all.

"Well, let's get going before we get swarmed by dungeon pokemon, why don't we?" I asked, remaining cheerful. We set off then, Amber looking suspiciously and fearfully at the walls of the dungeon.

"Hostiles." Erza warned, launching a magical leaf through the air into the approaching pokemon. An electrike, it was. Most of the pokemon on the first floor of this place did seem to be electrike or voltorb. Recently, minun and plusle had been seen.

As it was an earlier floor, and because Erza was stronger than was realistic for a servine, the dungeon pokemon was one-hit KOd. "I don't understand who these pokemon are." Caleb came frowning to my side "Are they simple dungeon constructs, or are they living beings who were trapped here and became mindless as an effect of the dungeon?"

"Nobody knows." Daemyn supplied "Missing pokemon reports are few with the exception of rescue missions, and there are much more pokemon in the dungeon than there are pokemon who go missing without being found, which is like comparing a seeming infinite amount within the dungeon to the pretty much nonexistent number of unsolved missing reports."

Caleb's frown deepened. "That would suggest that the pokemon here are dungeon constructs, but if so, why would they exist? what is the purpose of the dungeon pokemon at all? It is completely nonsensical. Items appear at random as well, making what could be considered an infinite supply of supplies that will never dry out…" he muttered to himself, eyes showing his concentration.

"If anybody can figure that out, it's you." Sarah complimented him "I'm sure you'll figure out why."

"If I had time, resources, and a team to help with research, that would go far smoother." Caleb replied to her as we walked. "As it is, the work and obligations I have now are taking that time up. I must find an alternative to spending hours entertaining people on stage. I never enjoyed it much anyways."

"Aww… What's wrong with talking in front of others?" I practically whined. "What you talk about is so interesting, and everybody likes you."

"Precisely. I would prefer to remain less popular, frankly. If I am popular enough that random people start mobbing me in the open, I will feel very uncomfortable. I do not like being… Celebrated. I would prefer to not be so… Obvious."

"...Oh." I murmured. I guess he was not a fan of crowds or something. Not enjoying the attention. "...I get it. What will you do then?"

"I have an obligation, though I have been considering alternatives as of late. If Goldeneye has managed it with the magic screen, I may be able to set something up like… a movie, or episodes of a show. Movies and television shows are recordings compiled in various ways to tell stories, in a manner much like how I used the magic screen."

"They sound cool." I told him, trying to ignore his use of the word 'obligation'. "If you don't like talking in front of everyone, you could have refused."

"Not with the way some of you forced me on stage." he replied stiffly, before launching a night slash into the room we were facing, catching a dungeon pokemon off guard. "Changing topic: the pokemon in the dungeon again. Have any of them shown any sense at all?"

"There have been some rare situations where a defeated dungeon pokemon suddenly wakes up, and starts acting like a normal pokemon, but the rest remain unconscious." Erza informed him before I could. Caleb's mouth twitched into a deeper frown for a moment.

"...I shall have to look into this." he murmured "eventually."

"Can we be, you know, happy, or something?" I pleaded "We kind of are trying to have fun here."

"My apolo-"

 **BANG!**

 **...**

"And now we have just knocked our own ace strategizer out." Daemyn deadpanned. Erza rubbed the back of her head as Sarah rounded on her.

"What? Sarah, I told him I would do it if he said that again." Erza protested before the aforementioned absol could instantly KO her with a flamethrower. She still looked like she was contemplating it, however.

"Enough." Swampert spoke up, preventing Sarah from roasting everything in a fiery rage. "Just use a reviver seed." he grumbled "better than attacking each other. He **did** have fair warning."

"I got it." I called, bringing the seed out of my bag. The shenanigans of my friends never ceased, huh? I quickly fed it to Caleb, who blinked a few times and stood up slowly.

"..." he said nothing to me, and started to continue moving. "Old habits die hard, huh?" I asked him, trying to lighten the mood. He quirked a tiny smile at it, but I had the gut feeling that he had forced it.

"Just… try to enjoy yourself." I told him "You can't live out your entire life being serious and quiet like that."

He looked me in the eye. "Why can't I?" he inquired tiredly. I had no answer for a moment.

"Because you'll be unhappy. After the shit you've been through, I think you deserve to be happy." I told him, cursing for the first time in a long time. "don't you?" My argument took a while for him to respond.

"...I suppose… that the times I have felt euphoria were very enjoyable." he admitted "I simply…" he seemed to have trouble saying it. I waited patiently for him to say something. "...Being serious is how I acted back at home, and that is really all I have left of home now." he finished softly.

"If you lost that…" Sarah murmured, understanding perfectly.

"Just because you can be serious, doesn't mean you can't have fun." I refuted. He nodded silently, but I understood. He wanted something, anything to remind him of home here, and that was literally all he had. That, and he was used to being so serious that he was sorrowful inside.

"Just… Enjoy what you can, and you'll eventually find it easier." I ordered him. He acquired a pained look, not faltering in his pace.

"I will make the attempt." he promised. That was probably the best I could possibly get from him.

We continued through the dungeon. The pokemon were tougher than normal, and there were a lot more of them, but we were able to handle it with relative ease. That boded **really** well for our chances in the tournament.

It was the eighth floor now, and the pokemon were actually tougher to defeat now. Erza was still one shotting them, and Swampert and I were doing so as well. Amber only attacked something once or twice, when she had to, but only used an iron tail and a quick attack, both of which one shotted their targets.

"Shall we split up here and figure out which way leads to the staircase?" I offered at a T-intersection.

"It would certainly serve to see if we can handle such a venture." Caleb agreed.

"That's the spirit!" I exclaimed, patting him on the bag. He gave me an incredulous look that had Riolu and I in laughter while most of the others smirked.

"..." he said nothing and turned right. Most of the others went with him, though my team headed left. Rather lopsided for splitting up, but Amber's team was **not** separating.

"What do you think we'll come across here?" Riolu asked curiously. I shrugged. I never bothered to memorize what pokemon appear in what dungeons. Just zap them and ask questions later. That was how you dealt with dungeons.

After a few minutes, we came across a pikachu. Glassy eyed as with most dungeons. I felt a twinge of emotion. I had been a pikachu once, and not even Caleb really knew who these pokemon were in the dungeon.

"I'll take this." I told Swampert. He nodded to me, and I stepped forward. Riolu looked eager to know how I could do on my own in a fight. Iron tail would be less effective. My lightning attacks were boosted massively, but they would also do little damage.

Which left some other attacks of mine that I didn't bother to show to others. I waited, holding my fist back, as a powerful force began building in it, making it shine orange. I crouched low, preparing myself for a run.

The pikachu charged. She gathered an energy ball in her paws, and then she did something strange with them. The ball's energy flowed back into her paws, and the energy made them both shine yellow. She moved fast, with a quick attack.

 _I've never seen that kind of thing in a dungeon pokemon!_

I brought my attack towards hers. She tried to hit me, but my focus punch massively overwhelmed the energy in her paw, and her other paw hit me in the face. My focus punch launched her at twice the speed she had approached, but her clenched paw had exploded in my face, sending me flying back as well. Swampert caught me and set me down on the ground.

"Thanks." I nodded at him, bolting into the smoke to figure out just what that attack was. I got out of the other side to find the wall of the corridor and a panting pikachu at the foot of a wall with a pikachu shaped hole in it. This one was really tough.

"Tough girl, huh?" I asked, as her paws began to glow yellow again. She charged me, and I jumped over her. I dove straight into the ground, digging through to where she had to have wound up. Once I felt I had gone far enough, I burst upwards and landed the super effective attack on her. The pikachu landed on her back heavily, downed.

"That…" I panted "was tougher than it should have been."

"But you still did it!" Riolu bounded up. He prodded the pikachu with a paw "That was cool!"

I munched on an oran berry to recover. I began to turn away, when I heard a groan. I froze, my sensitive ears pricking at the noise. I whirled to see the pikachu sitting up slowly, her paw on her hand. I frowned. What was happening?

 _Dungeon pokemon don't groan. They don't make noise with their voice._

I rushed forward and checked her eyes, really close to her face. She slowly opened her eyes, and they were no longer glassy and distant. "...Uh?" she asked. Her voice was cute, and she was about my age, I noticed.

"Hi." I greeted, catching her as she nearly fell over. We were quite close to one another… "Hey, are you alright? Why were you acting like a dungeon pokemon?"

She stared at me uncomprehendingly. "...Dungeon pokemon?" she asked, standing shakily to her feet "This is a dungeon? I don't know… I only remember wandering… for a long time."

Her murmurs concerned me. "You lost your memory?" I asked, keeping a paw on her shoulder. She shook her head.

"No… I just remember walking about this place all my life…. I feel a pain in my belly. What is that? I've never felt it before…" she murmured. I reached back and pulled out an apple.

"Eat this. You must be hungry." I offered.

She hesitantly took it in her little paws. "What is hunger?" she asked me cluelessly "I just… I don't know why, but I just attacked things. I never got... hungry... or anything… Where am i?"

"You are in a mystery dungeon called the amp plains. Mystery dungeons are strange warps in space and time that cover areas of the world, and act like mazes. We're part of an explorer team; we traverse these places to help people." I explained.

"Oh."

"Say… Do you need help getting out of here?" I asked, holding out my paw to her in a gesture that said 'come with me'. She looked at me blankly, as if trying to figure out what was going on. I was confused as well. She knew how to speak, how to do things, and according to her, had been in the dungeon all of her life, just mindlessly doing things. It probably felt weird to her to be thinking, feeling.

 _And now she's blushing at me a bit. What?_

More dungeon pokemon came around the corner. I grabbed her paw. "Run." I told her, and dragged her behind swampert, who took the three enemies out with one mud shot. "Thanks, Swampert." I thanked him.

he nodded to me, a smile on his large face. our new pikachu friend was looking up at him, unsure of what to do. Her stomach rumbled. She then looked uncertainly at the apple she had in her paws. I took another apple out of my bag and made an example by chomping into it, taking out two more with the other paw and tossing them to Swampert and the riolu perched on his shoulder.

She slowly put it to her mouth and bit into it as well. She paused, but she clearly enjoyed the taste of the apple. I watched her suddenly start devouring the fruit. it was gone in barely thirty seconds. I decided to give her the rest of mine. I wasn't that hungry yet.

"Hey" I distracted her once she had filled her stomach more. "Will you come with us?"

She jolted back a bit "W-where?" she asked.

"Back home. I don't think you will be safe here any longer. the other pokemon here are probably going to attack you. They are still like how you were." I informed her "You need to escape, so why not come with us?"

"..Yes." she answered, grabbing my paw again "I'll stay with you." She smiled at me, before we saw another group of dull eyed pokemon coming around the corner. She met my eyes, and said "Run."

LINE BREAK

"Alrighty then…" I muttered, having found the staircase "Didn't think we'd make it here before the others."

"Others?"

I turned to my new friend. I realized that we were still holding paws, but I did not take my paw away from her. "Hey, I don't know how the dungeon will work if you are not a part of the team." I said, before giving myself a mental smack to the face because she wouldn't know what that meant.

"The team… You, the big guy, and the energetic one?" she asked me. I nodded, and rummaged deep within my bag. I was forced to let go of her paw so that I could drag out a recruitment badge that I kept. I had given one to Riolu, and now, this pikachu.

"If you take this, Pikachu, you are officially part of our team." I told her "Rescue teams like us have a responsibility to help people in need in regards to mystery dungeons whenever possible. We will travel a lot, have adventures, and battle our way through different dungeons to the best of our ability." I offered the badge to her "Will you join us?"

I got that adorable smile. "Yes, I think so." she answered, picking the item up and looking at it "I would be happy to stay with you… all."

"Great!" I exclaimed, helping her put the badge on, where it somehow stayed on her fur. I never bothered to learn how those badges stuck around. "Welcome to the team… Uh… I don't know what to call you."

"...What do you mean?" she asked, confused.

"I mean I can't think of a nickname for you." I responded helplessly. She looked at me incomprehensibly. "It would be easier if I found a name for you other than Pikachu, so if you were around other pikachu I could call your name. It would make it much easier." I explained.

"Oh. Well, if you find something, sure." she replied somewhat carelessly. I nodded to her, and we decided to wait on the others.

I had not noticed that my paw was still in Pikachu's paw when the other's walked through, seemingly involved in an intense conversation.

"I'm just saying that you need somebody." I heard.

"Yes, yes." Caleb retorted, now in earshot "Look at those two. Go play matchmaking with **them.** " he said, pointing a paw at me. The two of us released each other's paws instantly.

"Jake? You got yourself a new teammate?" Daemyn asked, nearing the girl "Huh. A bit quick to be holding paws, and… Hang on, was she a dungeon pokemon? Isn't having dungeon pokemon wake up after being defeated like that really rare?"

"I'm pretty sure." I replied.

"Well then. Lucky you." Daemyn shrugged "And Caleb, that's a bit less surprise than I would expect."

"I am beginning to near the point in which, as a resident in the world, random circumstantial occurrences are becoming less shocking to me." He explained, walking towards the staircase "I am coming to accept that rare occurrences will just happen around you lot, as if they were not rare or improbable."

I blinked. "How did you know that it was a possible occurrence, but it was rare?" I asked him.

"I took a shot in the dark, and you confirmed it." Was his reply, making me sweatdrop.

"...is he always like that?" My new teammate whispered to me.

"He usually takes educated guesses rather than doing that, but occasionally, he does turn questions into statements, yes." I whispered back.

"Swampert and Riolu don't act like that." She observed.

"Everyone is different." I informed her. "Each of us have our own personalities, including you. We are all unique like that."

"Really? Cool" she responded shortly. I guess the emotion thing was not quite her norm yet.

"Well well!" Erza interrupted us "Caleb's not the only one we have to set with somebody, eh?"

I blushed hard. What the heck was she **talking** about? the pikachu copied my blush, despite not fully being used to emotions, she clearly still felt them. What was going on?

This was **not** how I had intended to have this conversation, with me spluttering questions like I was now doing. I wasn't even sure what I was **asking**.

I finally pulled myself together. "What is **up** with you, Erza!?" I exclaimed in utter confusion "sometimes you are calm and collected, sometimes you're attacking Caleb, sometimes you act just plain weird or are breaking fights up between Sarah and Daemyn…. And now this?!"

"To be fair, when it was directed at Caleb, you didn't notice so much." Daemyn reminded me "personally, I just came to accept the shenanigans of this group."

"Now he sounds like the armored one…" My new pikachu friend murmured.

"He does, doesn't he?" I replied "Caleb has that effect on people. All of us have acted like him occasionally."

"That's strange."

I looked at her. "What's strange about it?" I inquired.

"Well… All of it. Everything since you knocked me out has been… Strange." Was her answer.

"..." I said nothing for a bit. "Well… I'm sure you can get used to it, right?"

"Probably."

She seemed to be trying to figure herself out at the moment. I wondered what she would be doing if we were not there to help her. Would she have fallen back into this trap?

 _Oh, right!_

"Caleb!" I called, rushing away from the people that were plotting, to get to somebody who might sympathize, and also help me with the issue I had.

"Yes?" He asked as my new teammate bounded to catch up with me.

"I can't think of a nickname for her. I'm drawing a huge blank." I admitted to him, now shifting from foot to foot.

He blinked. "You are asking for suggestions? If I might remind you, I am not well learned in the typical names used in this world."

"Well," Pikachu interrupted before I could respond "I think he wants you to give it a try. You seem to be the smart one here."

 _She's really the take charge kind of person, isn't she? Or maybe she's just impulsive. Either way, it's-_

My thoughts were interrupted when she turned to look at me, and I realized I was staring at her. "Hmm? What's wrong?" She asked me.

"N-nothing!"

"...very well." Caleb saved me "Considering your human origin, it may be easiest for you to remember a human name. That is, I admit, completely unfounded, but for the sake of simplicity, and knowing my lack of knowledge in Pokemon names… Let us call her Jessica."

"Jessica, huh?" She asked.

"Or Jess, if you would prefer it to be shorter." He clarified. I smiled. I liked Jess. The name, I mean.

"Jess. I like it." The newly named Jess acknowledged.

"...this means that you will have to do some more training today and tomorrow" Caleb suddenly reminded me.

My eyes widened in realization.

"I would be glad to help." He continued "I had promised to try and find a way for you and Riolu to control your abilities. We should get back quickly as to make the full use of our time. Escape orb?"

"You're still willing to do that?"

"Of course. Shall we escape?"

We gathered the others then, explaining the situation and introducing Jess. She was easily likable, somewhat carefree.

"Let us meet in the clearing near Spinda's Cafe." Caleb ordered, and we all nodded. We huddled together, and shattered an escape orb. The blue light sent us all away without harm.

LINE BREAK

"Our trip was surprisingly simple." Caleb noted "far easier than it apparently should have gone."

"Well, Jess **did** get a good punch off on me before I defeated her." I pointed out.

"Aww, does your face still hurt?" Jess asked me, patting my face with one paw. I shook my head, fazed by the odd action and remaining silent.

"Jess, please demonstrate any useful skills you know." Caleb ordered, pointing to a set of training dummies that had been there since we got here, left over from somebody else's practice.

As I watched, her paws began shining with yellow light as she built up energy in her palms. She ran towards one target, and punched it. The force unleashed by her strike was tremendous, exploding outward, destroying the target in a large explosion.

I was really impressed. Caleb, not as much. "You exhausted yourself" he told her. I looked again, and saw that my teammate was panting already. "By the end of today, you will be extremely efficient with your energy use." He promised.

"O-Okay…" Jess panted

LINE BREAK

 **B-B-B-BOOM!**

"Again!"

 **B-B-B-BOOM!**

"Once more, as fast as you can."

 **B-B-B-BOOM! BOOM! ZZZACH!**

"...well done." Caleb complimented Jess, the sun nearing the horizon. "You were able to provide quick and powerful strikes for ten minutes straight, a feat manageable by only unleashing a small amount of electric energy at a time. Those small flashes do just as much of a job of launching an opponent as the large explosions from earlier. Overall, you do far more damage , though each strike is less."

Jess huffed wearily and absently caught the Oran berry I threw to her with one paw, looking at the other paw with an impressed demeanor. "And all I had to do was use less power and redirect the power a bit…" She murmured, taking a bite of the food.

"I told you he was a genius." I reminded her "he figured how to handle that energy usage problem thirty seconds after you blew up the first target!"

"You added an additional uppercut, followed by an electro ball hurled dead center… your aim is already excellent, your strength defies your apparent physique, much like Amber. Your speed is on par with Jake." Caleb analyzed her "you fight as if that is literally all you have done, as if you have been practicing all your life. Considering your story, you have been as a dungeon Pokemon. You also helped me know what kind of state dungeon Pokemon are in, and I can begin making guesses as to what the dungeons do to the Pokemon trapped inside."

"How did you say all of that without taking an extra breath?" Riolu asked curiously, suddenly right up near Caleb.

"A long history of speaking my mind in language human adults come to respect if they pay attention."

"The lack of tone too!" Jess exclaimed "I thought at least some of that would be said in anything other than monotone."

"Habit." Caleb looked at her with interest. "You have already developed an attitude and personality. considering that you have barely been alive as a dungeon Pokemon all of your life, that is also strange. I cannot make sense of that."

"Not everything makes sense." Jess told him.

"Particularly not here, in this world." Caleb agreed. He looked towards me. "Have you decided on a nickname for Riolu yet?" He asked, and I blinked. I had forgotten to put any thought in on it.

"Er…" I responded, sheepishly, rubbing the back of my head with my left paw.

"I assume you are about to request my assistance once more." He deadpanned "very well. I do wish for you to make the final decision, however I can give you a few options. Jared, Zach, Shulk. Choose one."

"Ooh!" Riolu exclaimed, paw in the air "I like Shulk! That name's cool!"

Caleb had told me to choose, but he nodded all the same. Had he been speaking to Riolu, even as he faced me? "Caleb… If I wasn't going to choose, why ask me?"

"To make a point." He informed me unhelpfully "it will come to you." He added, walking towards the guild "I shall meet you in your own home tomorrow, and attempt to decide on a tactic to remain capable of movement and action when you are being affected by this ability. Tomorrow you hopefully learn to control it."

He left then, walking away, where Sarah joined him and tried to give him a tackle hug. He leaped over her, and the red absol chased her crush towards the guild, leaving my team sweatdropping.

"Jake?"

"Yeah, Jess?"

"They're weird."

"Jess?"

"Yeah, Jake?"

"We're **all** weird."

"And we won't let that change!" Shulk exclaimed, paw in the air as he leaped in excitement. Swampert gave his silent smile.

"Yep." Jess agreed. "We're all weird. Now, i'm getting hungry again."

I laughed. "You've been having Oran berries this whole training session!"

"Bloody useless, them. Fill you up surprisingly little considering their size."

Now we all laughed, and I led her back home. Sharpedo bluff was a nice place to sleep after all.

LINE BREAK

I yawned heavily, stretching. Morning was always quick and easy to get through for me. Shaking Swampert awake was tougher, so I always got us breakfast first.

My paw hit something soft, and electricity connected between the object and myself. I bolted up, looking about for the foreign object… It was… Jess. That's right, Jess was a part of the team now. And… I was pretty sure I had put her bed on the other side of Swampert's bed. What was it and her doing right next to me?

I forced down the heat on my cheeks and checked my electrical stability. Nothing was wrong with my electricity levels, as can sometimes happen when electrical contact is not properly accomplished. Pokemon like me can get sick when that happens, though that is rare and with quick thinking, we electric types can fix it with some manipulation of energy.

She slept soundly, but the extremely energetic riolu, Shulk now, had been woken by the noise I was making. "Hi!" he exclaimed, appearing next to me, making me bristle and jump in the air.

"Rio- I mean… Shulk! Please!" I exclaimed in a whisper-yell. "That scared me!"

"Got you again!" he whisper-yelled right back, smiling "Hey, do you need help with breakfast?"

"It'll go faster." I smiled at the adorable riolu. He was probably about seven years younger than I was, pretty much still a kid, while I was sixteen or so. Not certain. Amnesia had that effect on people.

I shifted aside the wall of roots and vines in the side of the wall to get to our food supplies and other things. Quite the stockpile here. Team Amber and us were probably the two poorest of our group, because Caleb, Daemyn, and Erza had found the absolute jackpot when they found an item that unlocked the waterfall cave's other secret. Wish I had actually managed that when Swampert and I went to find out that the dungeon even existed.

After we had gathered a large amount of berries, we set them in bowls and went to wake the others. Today, Caleb taught Shulk and I how to handle our abilities without too much headache and maybe even control it.

Needless to say, the two of us were really excited. "Shulk, could you get Swampert awake while I get Jess? He's difficult to wake up, but I'm sure you can handle it." I requested.

"Sure thing!" he went to rouse the large water type. I moved over to Jessica, crouching by her and gently shaking her.

"Jess," I whispered "Jess, it's time to get up for the day." Nothing. I frowned. Did we have two heavy sleepers in this team now? "Come on, Jess." I whispered a bit louder, before scratching behind her ears. She **still** didn't wake.

 _Weird. That's how Swampert wakes me if he somehow wakes up first._

I finally had to call her name in a normal outside voice to get her to shift. The girl rolled onto her back, and slowly opened up her eyes. "...What is it?" she mumbled, before noticing that I was hovering right above her.

"Another day." I informed her "get up and face it."

"Joy." she grumbled, pushing herself up slowly, only to collide with me, as I had not moved away. I pulled back, realizing how close we had been to smashing our faces together. She got to her feet and dusted herself off.

"Not a morning person?" I asked cheerfully as she rubbed sleep out of her eyes.

She turned to me, and I bristled at the look she now had. " **No**."

"Ah." I continued weakly. She was adorable, but was also apparently dangerous if woken too early. Noted. "Well, Caleb should be over at some point, so…"

"Why wake me for that?"

"Well, the commotion would be a less pleasant way to wake up…" I tried to explain myself. She muttered something inaudible and fell back into her bed. "...Alright, you just… do that. Wake up on your own then." I finished.

I realized that Jess had not eaten breakfast, but I left the bowl out anyhow. Our training shouldn't be too explosive. Hopefully. Swampert got up to eat, although very slowly. Riolu hd finished his, and I had managed to before we did anything to wake the others. When you have a job every day, you learn to eat quickly.

Now we just had to wait for my friend. Caleb could be quiet, so I put Shulk on the more active job, tidying up, while I took to checking outside every now and then. It was crisp this morning; The cool air felt nice.

I took a moment to enjoy my fur and ears being blown about by the wind before a light voice scared the daylights out of me. "Enjoying the view?"

I whirled, bristling, to find Jess there. "Wha-... What… Why…" I gasped "weren't you **asleep**?"

She giggled at me. "You're easy to scare." She told me cheerfully. "I've gotten you twice today!"

" **Twice**?"

"You cowered at the death glare I sent you." She shrugged "you're **way** too powerful to be scared off by that, you know. Are all of you humans like that?"

"Well…" I thought about it "Amber gets scared easily, but Caleb only gets spooked when it's something embarrassing rather than scary. Like when Sarah went to nuzzle him the other evening."

"Does he like her?" She asked curiously.

"No." I answered immediately "but she's very attached to him. So much so that she becomes extremely… pushy. He is practically fearful of how she would charge him and nuzzle him, try to kiss him out of the blue… she's driving him nuts. It looks amusing to us, but I think he's properly afraid of her."

"...Oh."

"The poor guy tries to be patient with her" I shook my head "I personally think that if she was better about that, less annoying, the two could already be in a relationship. She is nice."

"What makes her so overbearing?"

"We don't know. **She** doesn't know." I murmured in reply. "She's more confused about it than we are. It's almost like she literally doesn't have a choice; like her instincts and or love for Caleb is so incredibly strong she loses all self restraint. Restraint she seems to get back when she's away from him, like last morning…"

"Last morning?"

"She seemed way more subdued, reasonable. Whenever she so much as thinks about Caleb, though… It's really weird."

"Huh."

I turned to Jess, seeing her staring at me. She turned away quickly. "What's up?" I inquired.

"Oh…" She shuffled her foot a bit "you just care so much about everyone. I think it's great."

I blinked, before grinning. "Really, a scaredy-cat like me can be great?" I attempted to lighten the mood.

She laughed at me. "Yes, silly." She said, punching my shoulder slightly "and that's 'scaredy-mouse', right?"

I frowned a bit now. "I don't even know what a mouse is, but we keep being described as that…" I murmured, before shaking my head "This is what Caleb's influence does" I finished in a mutter.

"To be fair, it is weird for a description like that to exist, yeah." Jess frowned as well. Then, she brightened. "Oh well. A lot of things go unanswered, right?"

"Where do you get all of that wisdom?" I asked her "less than half a day ago you knew nothing about the world, only remembering being in a dungeon all of your life."

"Dunno. Hey, are we going to search for Caleb, or are we just going to sit here and contemplate existence fruitlessly?" She asked, giving me a pointed look.

I grinned at her again. "What, you getting bored?" I asked her. She smiled back and shook her head.

We took a few steps forward when I tripped on a rock, which went clattering away in front of me. "You okay, Jake?" Jess asked, picking me up.

"Yeah…" I mutter, before growing dizzy "No. No, I don't think so" I corrected myself, holding my head. "Jess, I don't know how much longer-"

I blacked out.

 _Two Pokemon stood in my vision, over by spinda's cafe, at the crossroads. I recognized the two as Erza and Daemyn._

" _Morning, Erza." Daemyn greeted Erza, stepping up to the grass type._

" _Good morning" she replied. They spoke for several minutes. The volume had dropped so that I couldn't hear for a while, before… "Hang on." Erza suddenly spoke, and summoned her flail. Were they being attacked?_

 _No, Erza spun it rapidly in her right hand, before launching it at incredibly high speeds. I watched the flail go up and away, off into the distance towards treasure town. It was still in the air when I lost track of it._

" _Good arm." Daemyn complimented._

" _Thank you."_

" _Where's that thing going?" Daemyn wanted to know, and I did as well. Erza, however, said nothing. She crossed her arms and waited, and everything went black again_

My eyes opened slowly. I **hated** those dimensional screams. I had hoped they would disappear when I fixed time. They hadn't, and now I had to deal with this… Unless Caleb could help me.

"Jake!" Jess was screaming my name, sounding very worried. I realized she was very close to me. Actually, she was supporting me by my back, and we were face to face. "Please, Jake, wake up!" she cried out in fear. Fear for me.

"I-I'm all right." I murmured "That is what Caleb was hoping to help me deal with. I don't have any control…"

"What was that, Jake!? You really scared me!" she shouted, right in my ear. I winced in response.

"A dimensional scream… I get them sometimes when I touch things, get visions of the past or future. They usually have something to do with something important, or something to do with me." I informed her.

She relaxed. "Alright, Jake. Just… Please don't scare me like that." she whispered. I realized how very close we were. This was, what was it, the third time she was this close to my face within twelve hours? I found that my cheeks were heating a bit.

 _She is awfully-_

I'm sure that things would have continued escalating if Caleb had not interrupted literally out of nowhere. He was so quiet! "I seem to have interrupted something." He noted, making the two of us bristle and throw off sparks. Jess was so startled she dropped me on the ground, and I was freaked out enough to fire off a bolt of lightning at the absol.

Caleb silently sidestepped the blast and nodded to me. "I am here to assist with your training. Sarah will be here soon, I suspect, as she does not go anywhere without me." he stated.

I wheezed, clutching at my chest. "Don't give me a heart attack!" I squeaked, my voice breaking. "That literally scared the lightning out of me!

Caleb gave a slight frown, and opened his mouth, which is when I saw a certain green projectile fly out of the sky towards us.

"I apologi-"

 **CLANG!**

A particular green flail smashed Caleb's head and horn into the dirt. His forlegs splayed out a bit, kicking the stone I had tripped on back over to me, where I was careful to avoid it. He slowly pulled his face out of the dirt, leaving an absol face shaped pit in the dirt with the horn outlined and everything. He looked extremely funny with dirt caked on his face, and so we proceeded to laugh at his bad fortune.

He shook his head violently to be rid of the dirt, dusting us a bit with the cloud of earthen material that came from him as he did so. "..." he said nothing for a moment as he seemed to process what had just happened.

As the flail faded from existence, he suddenly yowled towards the sky. "Why!? Apologizing for scaring someone is a necessary gesture! Why, Erza!?"

Jess watched, impressed. She leaned towards me. "How did the plant girl do that?"

"I don't know. I haven't a freaking clue." I admitted.

"Because it's bloody impossible to do, that's why." Caleb huffed "You pokemon, breaking the laws of physics, and…" he continued to mutter as he made his own way down the staircase into my house.

I shared a look with jess before we burst out in more laughter, hearing the obligatory "Oi!" from the stairs as Caleb apparently disapproved. All that served to do was make me laugh harder. The entire situation had pretty much broken me.

Caleb poked his head out of the staircase entrance again. "Get in here. I am supposed to be trying to teach you how to control your dimensional scream, as well as Riolu's interesting version of it." he reminded me, causing me to sober up and walk down there.

The rest of the day was me touching things in the hopes of getting a dimensional scream so that Caleb could figure out how to handle it. He trained Riolu and I all day, while Sarah stood close to him and occasionally forced him to dodge her tokens of affection.

"It's really hard…" Riolu muttered, having made contact with Jess again because her past was very lacking in emotion or forethought, making it safe to touch her for her past. The first thing that Caleb had made us do is learn to figure out how to make the scream tell us about the past or the future. Shulk could manage it, but I could not, and we figured that out quickly.

What Riolu was trying to do now was actually trying to keep his eyes opened. I had tried, but I would only succeed in being knocked out with my eyes opened, which Caleb had balked at because it reminded him of the look Sarah had when she was dying in the cave. Cheery stuff.

Our focus had turned to Shulk now. The poor guy was struggling to keep his eyes open. Until he finally slumped, his eyes glazing over as he collapsed, trying to catch himself. It lasted around ten seconds, before he bolted back up.

"We are going to attempt something else." Caleb announced to Shulk. The riolu turned to him, hope in his eyes.

"What is it?"

"In this case, you will close one of your eyes, and try to keep yourself standing while you are experiencing the dimensional scream. Focus on keeping one eye open, and focus on standing." Caleb ordered "if you can fight while you are experiencing something like this, then you are far better off. I do not know how to deal with Jake's ailment, unfortunately."

I looked down, saddened. He had spend the entire day, testing and training us, and I hadn't made any improvement. None at all. Shulk had managed to improve, but his affliction differed from mine.

"Jake…" Jess whispered "Try to support Shulk, all right?" she requested. I flinched.

"Sorry…" I apologized "I guess I'm being a bit selfish."

"Shulk, please do as I ask." Caleb requested, looking at the color of the sky. Shulk moved to make contact with Jess again, and waited with his paw on her. He closed one eye, and waited. Eventually, his arm dropped to his side as he staggered once more.

He was sweating with exhaustion. He was doing his best to remain awake. I watched him, hoping that he could manage what I couldn't. Then, I saw his open eye go pink. He staggered a bit, and said "whoa…"

His whisper was cut off by his eye becoming normal again. He staggered, but he had done it. "...That was cool! It was like seeing two things at once, overlapping each other!" he exclaimed jubilantly.

"Were you able to differentiate the two?" Caleb inquired. Shulk gave him an excited nod "And I looked at the future as well! It wasn't so emotional of a moment, so nothing too weird happened, though… Well…" he rubbed his head "I think I probably shouldn't say anything about it."

"...Meaning some of the thoughts and emotions can be deemed unrepeatable." Caleb muttered "I think I might understand what has happened in your vision, though I don't know the specifics."

He then turned to me. "I am very sorry that I cannot learn how to help you." he apologized to me.

"...I… It's alright." I lied, and changed the topic. "Hey, you got to apologize without being smashed by Erza!"

"It is likely because I did not use the words 'I apolo-"

I jumped forward and covered his mouth with my paw. Once Caleb stopped talking, I raced to the opening of the bluff that showed me the beach and the ocean, and saw a little glowing green light way down by the beach below. "Yeah. Thought so. Has she been waiting all of today for that, or is she just coincidentally there?"

"Either way, I would not be surprised." Caleb replied, walking forward to look "I am half tempted to tempt her rather volatile throwing arm, yet at the same time, I am not certain…"

"Go for it. You need to lighten up, and doing random and amusing stuff is how you do it." I encouraged him. He looked down at Erza, and now that I looked again, I saw Daemyn hanging out with her. He seemed to hesitate.

"Hmm." Caleb hummed thoughtfully. "Well, Jake, I apologize for failing to find a way to control your dimensional scream." he apologized, and quickly sidestepped as the flail came flying towards us. It sailed right between us, and we looked after it.

That is, until it gleamed as it passed us, and our eye's widened. "Oh son of a-!" I started

 **BOOM!**

The flail was manually detonated by Erza, most likely, and the two of us were blasted away… right outside of the bluff. I think Jess and Shulk were blasted the other way, and Swampert would not have been as affected, but now we were falling.

I looked down at the approaching water, and then to Caleb who had the most deadpan look about his face. "Figures…" he muttered as he fell headfirst towards the water.

"Sorry." I apologized, rubbing the back of my head as we fell.

"I really am not that surprised." Caleb admitted "I should have seen that coming a mile and a half away."

"You were busy trying to have fun." I defended him "and that, my friend, is a very noble cause."

He shot me a deadpan look that said he still had to decide whether this was worth it, and then we hit the water hard. I surfaced after a moment, and Caleb did the same. "At least the water's warm!" I exclaimed after the absol, who snorted as he paddled towards the shore.

I caught up to him. "So what's with the weird premonition thing Erza's got? I'm the one who can tell the future." I muttered.

"All for the sake of a running gag, I suppose." Caleb muttered, continuing to paddle away. He was annoyed, but in the way that could result in laughs later. Progress!

When I got to the shore, Caleb had a few questions for Erza. things like how she knew he was apologizing and how she straight up broke the laws of physics to launch a flail all the way across treasure town to hit him. All three of us were laughing at him. Hard.

"cruel and intolerable…" he muttered. Then he shook himself and sprayed all of us with more water "Then again…" he said, his mood doing a huge one-eighty "The water **was** quite warm, as I think I just showed you. Are you sure that's actually an ocean out there? Because if so, the water being so warm, especially right after entering it, was… Well, unrealistic. I really ought to get used to nonsensical things."

"Now I'm wet." Daemyn complained.

" **you** weren't in the water with a source of electricity. It was the equivalent of being dropped into a tub along with a toaster and miraculously not getting zapped to oblivion as the water carried the electrical current."

"Oi!" I exclaimed "I have a name!"

He turned to me, and hid a smile from the others. "Of course, Jake. I… Apologize." he told me, that smile still on his face, and sidestepped the flail aimed for his head. he immediately pelted off towards the crossroads, an angry Erza on his tail.

"Get back here!" Erza roared at him, spinning the flail over her head as she raced after the absol.

"This is way out of character for me, and completely self destructive, but I think I'm somehow having fun…" Caleb kept talking as he ran, his voice becoming harder to hear as Daemyn and I were left on the beach.

"Success." I said, pounding my chest with pride.

"How'd you get him to be as carefree as we wanted him to be?" Daemyn inquired.

"Eh, I think I was just around when he finally snapped. At least this kind of insanity is good, right? He doesn't have to be all happy, all the time… He just needed to learn when to enjoy himself." I replied, shrugging. Daemyn looked after the two of them… No wait; Three. That was Jess, Shulk, and Swampert coming towards me.

"Looks like my escort is here. You just gonna sit there on the beach with damp fur?" I waved to him as I walked by him.

"Probably. The sunset is nice."

"good show, that. We'll probably watch it from the bluff. Anyways, good night. Get some rest for the tournament." I said my goodbyes, continuing to wave until Jess slammed me asking if I was all right, and after we untangled ourselves after having fallen on the ground, we went home.

Tomorrow was going to be a **very** busy day.

* * *

 **So you guys might have some questions for me. First, the tournament WILL begin next chapter. I had some final things to get done before that began. From here on out, I intend to make the chapters shorter. I tried to make this shorter, but I'm sory of bad at that.**

 **And you might be asking: Hyper! Other relationships are going so differently from Jake's and Jess. What's up? The answer is that I intended for the relationships in this story to vary greatly in how they operate. This relationship is sort of obvious, I reckon.**

 **Caleb's gone mad, hasn't he? Perhaps. Perhaps he is learning how to have fun. One of the two.**

 **I tried my luck with time skips, and the chapter was STILL long. I can't win T^T. Scratch that; I CAN win, and next chapter should be much shorter. Most likely. Unless I get carried away again.**

 **That is it for this chapter. Stay tuned, as the New Age chapter will be out very soon. Maybe even tonight. As it stands now, good day, all of you. Don't forget to review and tell me what you thought, what I can improve on, and all of that stuff. I love reviews!**

 **HyperJade out.**

 **Jango: You are WAY too cheerful today. I need to fix that**

 **Me: *flees for my life***


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Hey, everybody! Welcome back, my friends. Finally, the tournament begins! As you can see, I got carried away again. sixteen thousand plus words. On the other hand, I was not about to turn this into a montage at all. It had meaning to the characters.**

 **Jango: Spoilers...**

 **Amber: That was a bit... Hypocritical. Sorry.**

 **Me: Right. My apologies. Uh.. Review time?**

 **Amber: Yeah. Uh... Raven first. Was she promised a chess set?**

 **Me: ...**

 **Jango: ArataTheLegend does in fact like long chapters. Good for you; Hyper got carried away again.**

 **Me: Thank you, Phillip Harbindinger. That has been fixed. Shulk was in fact an OC. Rocketiermaster, I am glad you enjoyed it. Though I don't want to be the reason for you getting in trouble for disrupting class... Ah well. Nothing I can do about that.**

 **Amber: Westernfail doesn't like the longer chapters, it seems. Our bad.**

 **Me: Amber, that's not your fault.**

 **Amber: O-okay. Erm... Caleb might choose differently from you, West. We didn't go nuts with the line breaks, though they are evident in places, because we can't go about putting in a bunch of completely uninteresting stuff...**

 **Jango: Aaaand the OC given. We are in the middle of the tournament. Maybe he's around somewhere. I wasn't there, so...**

 **Amber: We can't just go tossing mega stones everywhere...**

 **Me: Which we can't explain right now. Chapter start before anything is spoiled too badly!**

* * *

 **Chapter 12: Tournament round one!**

 **Sarah's POV**

I watched Caleb step into our room after dinner tonight. he had stepped outside the guild before it closed to accept something from someone. He walked in with a little case. Those ones that open like a book.

"What's that?" I asked. I noticed that my love was scowling deeply as he put it down.

"Goldeneye saw fit to make me a chess set, which seems to have been the highlight of my day." he responded. I blinked. He had seemed so content earlier today!

"What do you mean? You were having fun today." I protested. He shook his head.

"Sarah, I don't think I am sane any longer." he told me. Seeing my eyes widen, he continued. "Sarah, you may not realize this, but my grip on my own mind is slipping towards my instincts. I have headaches again. My instincts are winning, and it is driving me mad. The others, trying to 'help' me are only causing more damage. I refuse to hurt them any more than I have, so I stay silent, but I fear it will not be long until I am unrecognizable."

I was already speechless. one minute into conversation and I had nothing to say. I lowered my head slightly, unsure of how to comfort him. My Caleb was afraid. Afraid of changing, of becoming someone else. his personality was all he had left of his old life. I understood that.

And I loved who he was already. That helped me understand, I think.

"They… just want you to be happy." I told him. He closed his eyes.

"I understand that." he told me "But no matter their intentions, they are insensitive to the pain I am experiencing as a result of it. I must remain calm, collected, and reasonable. Otherwise, I could lose myself forever, as I nearly did today. That turnaround they saw… was a result of my instincts beginning to manipulate my personality. Was I anyone else, I fear I would have already succumbed."

"If you don't want Erza to hit you…"

"On the contrary." he interrupted suddenly "Erza's strikes to my skull are actually bringing me back to reality to a degree. She might unwittingly keep me somewhat sane throughout this."

"...Oh." I whispered lamely.

"I can't bring myself to tell them that they are already being a problem. I have analyzed them to this point, and I fear if they are told any more that they are only doing damage, they might have unfortunate reactions or give up entirely. I do not wish that; they are still my friends, and have supported me this far. It is a pain silently bearing their jokes and their games; it would be a far greater pain to lose them entirely."

 _...I think that he needs rest… I think that he needs to sleep unhindered tonight. I think I can manage that for a night._

"...So that item is a chess set?" I asked. Caleb nodded and with one claw, flipped open the single clasp keeping it shut and letting it fall open to the floor. Black and gold tiles made up the board. No pieces were evident, but small circles of miniscule runes took their place. There looked to be hundreds of tiny runes on each tile in those golden circles. The inside of the case around the board had larger runes all over it, which would probably do various things. One side had an intricate white 'W' on the center of the end, and the other had an intricate black 'B'

Caleb walked around the board to one side, and his side of the board flashed. Replacing the rings of runes were small images of… us. Caleb was in the king spot. Shedinja was in the rook spot… both of them, Erza had both knight spots, which made sense. Daemyn was in both bishop spots, and… I was in the queen spot. "Interesting." Caleb muttered "It seems the board automatically places yourself in the king spot on the board."

I'm pretty sure my eyes were sparkling more than the night sky tonight. If the board was based off of the mind of the person nearing it, I was more than his queen on the board!

"And it also appears to use those you are most familiar with as well." Caleb followed up "The pawns interchange between Jake, Jess, Amber, and Absol."

 _He hasn't noticed that i'm in the queen spot…_

I stepped over to the other side of the board, and much the same board appeared, though I was in the king spot and Caleb was in the queen spot. "The board seems not to differentiate between genders, either." Caleb mused.

 _He's not even paying attention to how I consider him!_

"Sarah…" he murmured, making me perk up. This was it! "May we play a game before bed? It might settle my mind somewhat."

I comically faceplanted. Of all the oblivious, he was the smartest. However, I realized that he had a point. He needed to do something he felt comfortable with. "Sure thing, Caleb." I responded. I had put myself on the white side, so I supposed I was first.

Since it seemed to take images of the people that we knew best, our boards were quite similar. Thankfully, our pieces only looked in the direction of the opponent. I tapped one of the pieces, realizing it was solid, and then tapped a spot on the board to move one of the pawns forward, the one directly in front of my king piece, which happened to be me. The pawn, one of the pieces that looked like Jake, actually stepped forward like Jake would until he was on the correct square.

"This bears a lot of detail." Caleb noted. He moved his pawn, which appeared like Jake as well, forward. The piece stood diagonal to my own, and once again stood in front of a piece that appeared like I did.

I took it. The pawn I used jumped and burrowed into the ground, leaving a holographic image of a hole and displaced dirt, in comparison to the solid that the pieces were. One Jake struck the other in the jaw as it erupted from the ground, sending the other piece flying into the air. One it landed, it stayed for a moment, looking unconscious, before the piece flashed golden and disappeared.

"There is truly attention to detail." Caleb muttered as the image of the hold created by did faded away. My pawn stood where his had. "While it is odd to label the piece as a pawn, when it appears like Jake, it is technically accurate to the piece, but I believe I would rather call him by name." Caleb continued.

"Agreed" I nodded.

He tapped my piece. he was using his queen already?

 _I am perfectly fine being called Caleb's queen._

He tapped the Jake piece, and my small version unleashed a massive flamethrower from where she stood that reached me leg and passed by me, the illusion leaving me unharmed. Half of my characters should have been wiped out entirely, but it only left one piece damaged; the target. The Jake piece was blackened by the flames, before falling over and flashing golden. Caleb's Sarah piece stepped forward until it stood where the Jake character had.

The game lasted twenty minutes. I was utterly destroyed. When he said checkmate, every piece that surrounded my personal king piece attacked at once, and all of my pieces flashed out of existence. After five seconds, the board flashed back to normal again.

"You didn't bat an eye when you took out the piece that looked like you." I noted.

"No reason to be. No reason to equate a board piece with a real person." Caleb shrugged off the implication and walked away from the board, his characters being replaced by golden rings of runes yet again. "Apparently that's just about the most durable thing out there." Caleb commented as he climbed into his pile of hay that made up a bed. "Goldeneye informed me that with all of the runes she put on that thing, it would be everything proof and would return to me if I lost it for too long. Waterproof, damage proof… Unless someone else using magic specifically undid first the wards around it and then the enchantments in place, it would survive anything."

"That's… Nice of her."

"More than I deserve." he said "I accepted it under the condition that she would stop spending so much time on me. Her family was exhausted from watching her undergo those projects. She so enjoyed the challenge, but she hasn't gotten any proper rest in a long time."

I closed up the board, and the latch connected itself automatically. "Alright." I responded "It's time for bed, right?"

"Correct."

I longed to try and sleep very close to Caleb again, but he looked so tired… And a little like he was one mistake away from losing it. For him, I would do anything. And so I stepped away from his bed and flopped into my own.

Tomorrow could be an exhausting day.

* * *

 **Caleb's POV**

" **WELCOME, ONE AND ALL!** " the exploud boomed to the crowd from the very center of the stadium grounds.

 _Why, hello, narrator cliche._

 _Enough of that. Observe. Calculate._

Everyone was present it seemed. For the size of the stadium, there was only one unoccupied row at the top. There was an effort made to increase the space everyone had, so it was not so crowded. Each person had little orange rounded squares that looked like screens floating about them. When more pokemon were present, the number of those increased, giving impressive angles of the battles to come. I myself impressed again by it all.

My friends had dragged me over to the spot of the stadium they had picked out, so the entire lot of us sat quite close to the guildmasters. Frankly, contrary to what one would expect, this was the most spacious area of the stands that was taken up, because nobody wanted to be in the way of the guildmasters if anything went wrong of someone, say wigglytuff, got carried away in his cheering.

After we arrived, my friends took advantage of the fact that Ninetails was sitting a distance away from the other guildmasters and dragged me right next to her. Why did I let them do this? Not certain. "The technique used to show what is occurring on the field is impressive." I finally commented.

"Indeed." Queen Ninetails responded on my right.

"It's nice." Sarah responded on my left.

"The likelihood that any of us are chosen for the first match are essentially zero." I reminded the group, whom I saw becoming very pumped for the fight. They suitably relaxed, which meant I could relax as the tension was lifted somewhat.

"This is exciting!" Shulk exclaimed "I wonder who's first!"

" **LET'S GET RIGHT TO THE COMBAT! OUR VERY FIRST COMPETITORS ARE TEAM BRAWL VERSUS THE SINGLE EXPLORER SAGE!** "

"Hey, that's the shaymin who contacted us and told us you were at Sky Peak!" Sarah exlaimed pretty much instantly.

I sweadropped. "Did I not just just finish explaining how unlikely it was that any person we knew would be called down first?" I deadpanned. Everyone chuckled.

"You mentioned our group, not people we knew." Daemyn reminded me "and I guess the universe just hates you."

"Took you long enough to figure that one out." I returned darkly "Can something realistic happen once? I would greatly appreciate it if something I calculate goes the way it should."

My complaint was met with a lot of shrugs. I sighed and looked down to the field.

 _It should take a while before the combatants reach the fie-_

Flashes of yellow much like the ones my new chessboard made (that particular item was strapped to my side; I was not leaving that beloved item anywhere) brought five pokemon to the field. A set of heavily muscled, powerful looking pokemon stood to one side, and were very large. The other side had a tiny shaymin, who almost was unable to look high enough to see above him due to his body shape.

" **ON ONE SIDE, TEAM BRAWL! WITH MACHAMP AS THE LEADER, AND HIS CONKELDURR COMPANIONS, AS WELL AS HARYAMA! ON THE OTHER SIDE, WE HAVE SAGE THE SHAYMIN!** "

"If the battles will be so random, there is no apparent design to separate the more experienced from the less experience." I noticed "Luck can play a part."

"Aww, and I wanted to go against you." Daemyn pouted as much as aa wolf-like pokemon could pout. He was being humorous, but I was thinking about my lack of luck as well. I did not feel as if it was a joke.

The images showed each of team Brawl laughing at the small shaymin, though the shaymin seemed calm and collected. I felt looking at him that the pokemon understood exactly what he was doing. My thoughts were confirmed when he opened the pouch he carried and pulled a metal version of one of the flowers at Sky Peak.

And as he held it, he transformed. The shaymin glowed a brilliant white until he stood taller, and began to float a bit.

"Sky forme." Ninetails explained to me "Shaymin can go into this form when exposed to a gracidea flower."

"Or that metal version." I added as Sage put the item back into his little pouch. "I evidently works."

"So it does."

Without turning my head, I sensed Sarah look between Ninetails and I. She seemed to be detecting the similarities between us. I had to maintain a sort of… I had to treat the two of them similarly.

"Sarah, what do you believe the chances are of Sage's victory?" I asked her, turning to look her in the eyes. She met my gaze, likely going into her little fantasy land for a bit before turning to the screens that allowed her to see images of the combatants while the large screen behind them showed a more cinematic view of the battlefield.

"He's done that forme change, so he's probably stronger." She began "And his typing may have changed too. That might give him an advantage." the red absol looked at me. "Did I get that right?"

"You are correct on your points, but the biggest difference is the most important." I replied. "What's he doing now?"

"Uh… Floating?"

"precisely. Do you think a single one of his enemies have the ability to fly?"

"No…"

"Or even attack an enemy in the air?"

Sarah blinked. "No." she replied. "Which means… He's completely invulnerable in that sense?"

"Sage has a one hundred percent chance of victory in that form." I agreed.

" **BEGIN!** "

Sage rose into the air as the fighting types charged, and left them to stare up at him with an apparent sense of realization.

"Get down here!" they yowled.

"No." Sage answered calmly, and raised his head to the sky. The sunlight promptly seemed brighter, and much warmer.

"It's like when Ammy used that sun trick." Sarah muttered.

"Sunny day." Erza explained.

I frowned at the sky. The move had indeed made the sunlight feel warmer… What blocked the sun's heat? "Are you trying to tell me that he just punched a hole through the ozone layer to let more solar radiation in?" I asked "Just by moving his head about?"

"...What's the ozone layer?" Jake asked. Riolu also looked at me expectantly. That said, everyone was looking at me with that questioning gaze. Well, that was fine. I liked answering questions.

"The ozone layer, or the ozone shield, absorbs most of the sun's radiation." I explained "To create an effect such as this, one would have to literally control the sun itself, which I refuse to believe. The still improbable but less ridiculous option is that he punched a hole straight through the ozone layer, which would have caused the sunlight to only seem warmer in this area, as opposed to the entire planet."

"it only does have a certain range…" Ninetails mused.

I nodded. "I fail to see exactly **how** he damaged the ozone layer, considering it is in the stratosphere" I continued, and upon seeing their very confused look, I continued: "Which is science speak for 'really, really high'." I clarified. "Directly underneath the much thinner mesosphere, where the temperature truly starts to drop even in comparison to the stratosphere."

"Cool. So the planet's got a shield around it?" Jess clarified.

"Just one that absorbs radiation from the sun." I corrected "It won't protect you from much else. A smaller meteor might disintegrate upon entry, but larger meteors will punch through, though they will lose plenty of mass, and crash to the ground, where they will then be known as meteorites."

"Like the one that we stopped." Charizard pointed out.

"If it was extremely large, then it would have caused some real damage."

"It was causing natural disasters before it got here" Amber spoke up "and it took Rayquaza's hyper beam to take it apart."

I hummed in thought, but Erza pointed out that Sage was doing something else. The shaymin opened his mouth, and energy came out of thin air and poured together into a sphere like raindrops coming together to a central point of gravity, forming a sphere of light.

And then he fired a massive laser at the lot of them.

 **BWEEEEEEN!**

The attack was not a flash cannon, though it looked similar. Unlike the flash cannon, it was more conical than like a beam. The attack enveloped the machamp first, revealing the being to be struggling to stand. The fighting types started to make a plan because their leader had nearly been taken down in one hit.

"Sunny day boosts the power and how quickly a solarbeam charges." Erza explained to me. I frowned. Under my logic, the independent variable was the radiation from the sun, which meant that for solarbeam to gather more energy quickly, the only thing that that beam could be comprised of would be that radiation.

 _I wonder if pokemon can get sunburns?_

Machamp looked pretty well done, so I assumed that under that kind of radiation, sure. I simply assumed that pokemon can't be affected by something like cancer. That, and I had seen no example of a sunburn otherwise.

 _Getting off track._

Sage watched as the two conkeldurr braced their pillars, and the haryama stood atop them. With a display of strength, the massive fighting type was launched into the sky towards him. Sage let gravity do the work with that one, letting Haryama sail past him before starting to build another sphere of pure solar radiation to blast the two who had launched his 'flying' opponent.

They went down that time; the attack had seemed extremely powerful. This was apparently the power of someone who explores dangerous places all on their own. Coupled with his advantages, his victory was assured.

A rather uneventful victory, to be honest.

Try as I might to focus on the strategy used in battles, several of the battles had little to do with strategy. The less experienced used brute force, and no strategy was necessary for the unfortunate enough to go against far more experienced teams. Most battles blurred by in the beginning. I did catch some moments of impressive strategy, such as rebounding one of those horrid sleep moves, a sleep powder, by beating their wings and hitting the partner of the bug type releasing the attack.

I learned as much as I could from every battle while also answering any comments that my friends made. It was interesting, really. This entire tournament was very interesting to watch. Some battles were over in moments. One, that I particularly liked, lasted nearly half an hour and the strategy was superb.

When I recognized a name, I paid even more attention. " **OUR NEXT BATTLE IS BETWEEN TEAM XAVIER AND GAUGE!** "

'Xavier' was one of those names that were likely used randomly because it sounded 'cool' I suppose. The drilbur and some other pokemon I did not recognize took to the field on their side. The two looked like their skill sets would be varied.

And Gauge took to the stage. The luxray flashed into the clearing via the magic trick used get people into the field easily. He shook himself a bit, and looked at his opponents in a somewhat lazy manner. His opponents were prepared for their battle as well.

 _I was interested to see what strategies you would employ_.

The electric type seemed somewhat aggravated, as if being surrounded by a majority of the pokemon living on the planet was becoming either a nuisance or a source of anxiety. He was against two opponents, which could prove to be a nuisance as well.

The pokemon I did not recognize moved forward. "Quite the opponent." he deadpanned distastefully. His attitude was not something I would tolerate much.

"Do we really have to beat up a girl?" the drilbur complained. That was when you could see the change in Gauge's manner. Judging by the tic mark practically visible from here even without the magic screens, he was not happy with being mistaken for a girl.

"I'M A GUY, DAMMIT!" he yowled at his opponents.

"I mistook him for a girl at first." Daemyn admitted "he's built like one."

"I made the same mistake…" Ninetails mused "Interesting."

"Being unaware of the differences commonly found between male and female pokemon, I had little trouble with it. his voice is plenty masculine." I commented.

"Saved by a **lack** of knowledge?" Charizard asked "You don't do much wrong when talking to others, and usually it's because you **know** things."

Gauge settled down somewhat. He stilled, staring his opponents down silently. I blinked. What was he doing now? The pokemon seemed to not pay attention to anything else.

" **BEGIN!** "

Gauge did not move until his opponents did, almost as if he had not been paying attention to the very loud announcer. "Get him, Accelgor!" the drilbur shouted, digging into the ground. Gauge would have difficulty fighting that one, at least with the type advantage. being a luxray, he could likely see the drilbur anyways.

The now identified Accelgor bolted forward, his arms glowing with the color of the bug type aura that burned us dark types. He moved incredibly fast, and Gauge had a very difficult time avoiding it. The luxray did so by leaning just to the side and allowing Accelgor to sail past him. The bug type quickly turned around and prepared for another attack.

I worried that Gauge had forgotten about the drilbur. He was solely focused on his opponent. Gauge prepared to retaliate, electricity sparking between his fangs. Again, Gauge was patient and allowed Accelgor to charge.

 _Gauge knows what he is doing now._

Accelgor was far to reckless in his strikes. However, when he missed, he was able to get away too fast for Gauge to get his teen into his arm or wherever he was aiming. The luxray was too slow, and the accelgor was too reckless.

Unfortunately, Accelgor had a teammate. one that blasted Gauge from below now, knocking the electric type into the sky with a yowl of pain.

 _But he only focuses on one thing at a time. Now he is realizing his mistake. He is… Panicking?_

The luxray looked to be panicked slightly, electricity coursing through him as he looked from one to the other. He had looked relatively calm until that point. Perhaps he was using this to overcome that easygoing nature? Working himself into a frenzy?

Drilbur went back down under the ground, and Gauge tracked him with his eyes, having the ability to see through the dirt to see the ground type. He leaped away from accelgor, who bounded after him in the air and struck his chin with that bug type energy, which seemed to form a connection and steal small orbs of energy from him.

"Leech life." Jake explained as I questioned the technique.

But the lone pokemon looked ready for anything again. he was injured, while his opponents were not. Why was he looking confident?

I observed the placement of the group. I could not see Drilbur. This is where Gauge knew more about the battlefield than I. "I see you." Gauge said now. I frowned. His voice was slightly higher pitched as it played through the screens we watched. He looked serious. He likely meant he saw Drilbur, who was not being shown.

But as Accelgor raced to strike again, Gauge reared up on his hind legs as the ground type erupted from the dirt in the direction of his belly. Accelgor had quickly changed directions to meet him as he was higher off the ground when rearing up.

In a display of strategy not even **I** could see coming, his paw glowed with the same power that Queen and King had used to boost their power, and struck Drilbur with helping hand. Imbued with that power, Drilbur's dig attack struck Accelgor instead, who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Everyone gasped. My eyes widened. Accelgor was sent sailing straight into the air as Gauge leaped away from his remaining opponent, as Drilbur gawked at his unconscious teammate that hung suspended in the air as gravity brought him back down to earth… right on top of Drilbur.

 _Impressive. Had I been able to see Drilbur, I may have come up with it, but Gauge had more information than I, and used it properly._

"Wh-wh-wha!?" Gauge's remaining opponent stammered as he pulled his defeated teammate off of him. Gauge had won. Being able to see the slow ground type through the ground, Drilbur no longer had a chance.

By the time Drilbur felt the need to go back underground, Gauge had taken the fight to him and sunk his fangs into the ground type's arm, and tossing him away somewhat. It wasn't very far; Gauge seemed to have underdeveloped muscles or something.

but the drilbur could not land a blow on Luxray, and stalling for too long underground or in the sky was considered cheap and pointless. Trying to fight was not much use either because his moves were far too slow; he depended on Accelgor for dealing with faster opponents.

Altogether, team Xavier had been well balanced, and some acceptable strategy, but when Gauge was declared the victor five minutes later, we were not so surprised. The luxray still got plenty of cheers for that display. He muttered to himself, something I listened carefully to.

"That dig attack fucking hurt." he cursed, his voice seeming to go from high pitched back to a masculine pitch as he spoke "Glad it's over."

"That was like, Caleb levels of strategizing with that move." Daemyn commented.

"He had more information than I did, and so I was caught off guard." I responded "Never allow yourself to forget the abilities of each pokemon."

The battles began to blur by again. two hours of nonstop battling passed, and again some of the battles were not so special to me. There were the few that were massive and flashy, explosions dotting the field at all times. Two hours until another familiar team name was called.

" **TEAM HONOR VERSUS TEAM SABER!** "

Blutarch and his mate appeared on the battlefield, their charizard and dewott friends backing them up. On the other end, we beheld two scyther, a ninjask, and a greninja.

I kept my eye on Bluetarch and Shino. The two stood close together, and I knew for a fact that Shino would be discreetly helping her mate strategize as well as pretending to be childish in front of her opponent. "I have faith that this will prove to be an interesting match" I decided aloud.

"how so?" Ninetails asked me.

"one side will focus on speed, and the other with a mix of strategy, but I feel as if this battle will prove to be very helpful to me." I explained "Because I can understand the basis for their strategies."

Ninetails turned back to the field. "I see." she responded. She was proving to be a very god person to have a conversation with; she understood what I was talking about if it pertained to pokemon related subjects, and would probably understand more as well. If I taught her basic mathematics, would she remain awake?

" **BEGIN!** "

The bug types launched themselves forward at impressive speeds. Glurak flapped his wings and cleared his teammates, slamming down in front of them and unleashing a torrent of flames that flowed in an area in front of him.

This only delayed the quick footed bugs, which surrounded the others quickly. By that time, Shino had generated a sword of ice in her mouth (I would have to learn how one does that) and then, as they advanced, tapped the blade against the strange metal snowflake necklace.

An effect spread over the blade, giving it an extra shell of semi-transparent blue and white camo-type coloring. She promptly blocked the incoming blades of the nearest scyther with it, the ice not cleaving in two like it normally would have. She then bolted away, leaving the scyther surprised. This was until he (and I) realized that both scyther had been promptly surrounded by clever maneuvering. The two of them were quickly roasted and knocked out.

That left the ninjask for them to deal with while Shino confronted the greninja. "Hi!" she exclaimed through the sword in her mouth. The greninja took a fighting stance. Katanas made of water appeared in his hands, seeming to be solid enough to injure someone.

"Y'know, it's actually pretty hot out today." Shino said conversationally, causing the charging water type to falter only to narrowly block the strike of the longsword that Shino had tried to cleave him with. Because he had two swords, he began to bring the other one around.

Shino was forced to leap away. Greninja took his chance and was behind the glaceon faster than she could see him move, preparing to take her down. He brought the blades around in an 'X' formation, and the sound of blades striking their mark filled the air.

Greninja's breath caught.

Having jabbed the water type was the longsword that Shino had almost casually swung around in her teeth and stuck backwards into the pokemon. Surprised, he lost his concentration and his katanas burst apart into water, effectively soaking the glaceon.

"Sorry about this!' Shino called as she did a backflip around the stunned water type and bashed her sword against his head, dropping him to the ground. He quickly got up and bounded away; his defences were probably better than the bugs.

I took the time to note that the ninjask was continually getting faster, and none of their opponents could hit it.

Shino was prepared to handle herself, but Greninja had apparently decided to clear out and deal with Glurak instead; an enemy that was a genuine threat as well and one he could actually handle. Faster than I could track, he threw a dozen shurikens made of water at the charizard.

Glurak roared as the strike hit him, and turned to see more projectiles aimed at him. Water shurikens that he promptly reduced to steam with a flame burst. This battle was not over just yet. I watched as Shino and the others failed to strike the two faster pokemon, who kept bombarding Glurak. Finally, the angry charizard flew into the air away from Greninja and unleashed a whirlwind in as many directions as he could, keeping the ninjask and the shurikens mostly at bay.

Greninja was forced to take his attention away from Glurak due to the appearance of a certain angry dewott, and the two began trading blows with their swords with impressive speed. This occurred while Blutarch and Shino attempted to shoot Ninjask out of the sky.

Ninjask, however, was too fast to be even visible any longer. I worried for the victory of team Honor under such an opponent. With Greninja being a hassle in the background, they could be in trouble. Shino leaped next to Blutarch and had a rapid fire discussion with him. They could do this because Ninjask was attacking Glurak and Gunjin had a fast paced sword fight going on.

I analyzed the situation. Ninjask could not be handled with Greninja there, but Ninjask could not protect Greninja properly.

Thus, Greninja had to be taken out. "They will attack greninja at once so that they can focus on Ninjask." I revealed. seconds before they did it and surrounded the ninja frog pokemon and all crashed into him with physical attacks.

With him down, they only had a extremely fast bug to deal with. "I knew I should have taken that thing out immediately." Glurak muttered immediately.

"Four against one, and he would have to stop to use swords dance" Blutarch reasoned. "It'll run out of energy before it can take us all out."

"Then let us not waste our attacks." Blutarch decided. On a subtle nod from his mate, he continued. "Bug types don't have much physical stamina. At least, not most. Not ninjasks."

 _Useful information._

They leapt and dodged attacks, though they could not avoid much with that speed and versatility. If I remembered correctly, this could have been what Shedinja had evolved into. And nobody had explained evolution to me yet! Why did I keep forgetting to ask? I know what the human concept of evolution is, and this isn't it.

 _The fight has no more strategy to behold._

"How did you know that they would all attack Greninja at once?" Ninetails asked me.

"It was all they could do." I responded. "It was logical."

"He sees everything." Sarah told Ninetails. I don't know what she was doing. Making me seem interesting in front of Ninetails was against her goals. Maybe she was making herself appear as if she knew me extremely well. That was a risky move for her.

But who was I to complain? Ninetails actually seemed as if she would respect my personal space, unlike Sarah or Amm-... Amaterasu. Last night had not been as bad as what I had experienced before, but that was only because I had just not protested, staying silent and giving her little reason to test me.

One girl after me, one girl that has me on the ropes, and a girl I might actually get along with.

 _I am getting distracted._

I turned to the battle, where the ninjask was down to at least a visible speed. It was promptly roasted by a flamethrower and downed.

"That battle was very valuable to watch." I commented after it was completed. I decided to make a point by congratulating team Honor personally.

"Who's next that we know?" Amber asked from her spot behind me and one level up.

"Now, I would buy it if one of our group were to be called next, at least in the list of people we knew." I told her.

Matches started to fly by again. Those with a half decent strategy nearly always won. I recognized this first round as a way to root out most of the teams with either little strength, no strategy, or both. Utter randomness meant that there was no leniency for the new teams.

I would have designed it differently, but this way did work for them. Some of the new teams would manage to get through, but the way I was understanding it now, the combination of the strongest, smartest, fastest, and perhaps luckiest got to the end of this tournament and won, and the newer inexperienced teams had no chance. Perhaps it was better to not let them think they had a chance only to disappoint them.

The day was actually more than halfway over. There were so many pokemon, and it took so much time, that the first round could take several days, in reality. I wagered that with all of us, only one more of our teams would be called on today.

Which is when Erza's team was called, I was not surprised. "Remember" I instructed "Create a strategy. Brute force will not serve you well."

"On it." she nodded, before they flashed away and reappeared in the field. Both Sarah and Ninetails watched me with curious looks, but again I used my absol sense to know this and ignored both girls. One was literally ten times older than I was, for goodness sakes. Even if ninetails worked differently from other pokemon.

Indifference was a great asset to hold in my hand. Paw. Whatever. I guess teeth, actually, considering how useless this thing that doesn't even qualify as a proper paw is.

I looked at the pad with claws sticking out of it. Every time I looked at my body, my fur, I was just reminded of what I had abandoned. I was relatively non-versatile in this body. However, I had seen Sarah and Absol move around much easier; I should be able to do a lot of stretching and improve my flexibility. It led me to wonder why I was so inflexible anyways.

No matter, because Erza was set to begin her battle.

 _Strategy, Erza. Work out what you need to do._

 **Erza's POV**

I looked at my opponent. One of those teams comprised entirely of a single evolution line of pokemon.

 _Oh joy, they're fire types._

Just my luck. Three magmar and a magmortar. A powerful team, about the same rank as us.

Caleb's words came back to me. " _Create a strategy. Brute force will not serve you well."_ he had said. I had to get through this, and all I knew were moves that had the gras type element.

So I had to use brute strength for the fighting and the strategy for avoiding attacks. These were in the magby/magmar/magmortar line… Oh hello, slower enemies. We were built for speed. They were not.

"Alright, you two." I whispered "Stay on your toes at all times. Spend more energy dodging than you do attacking. I have to figure something out. Separate them if you can; split up for the moment."

"Got it." they rumbled in unison.

" **BEGIN!** " The announcer roared, and I thought it was a bit quicker than normal. Must be my nerves.

 _The last time I did this, I got stomped flat in the first round._

The tangela bolted from either side of me, and landed to the sides of the other fire types. They spoke for a moment, apparently having not planned beforehand and considered this a cut and dried match.

One magmar came for each of us, and I saw the magmortar single me out as the leader with a look. I tensed as I saw the look in his eye, and watched him bring up his arm and launch a large fireball at me like a cannonball.

I rolled aside quickly, and then leaped away from the flamethrower that the magmar launched at me. I summoned my weapons and kept my distance from the enemies and rolling away from attacks.

I felt the need to irritate them somewhat. I smirked and did a front flip over the silly magmar (who had awful aim) and pointedly waited for the magmortar to launch another fireball at me. The dense little bugger launched it at me, which I made a point to saunter out of the way of so that it could detonate against the much weaker magmar and send him flying. The leader was much more powerful than his weaker teammates.

However, due to type related things, the magmar still stood though it was weakened. If it was weakened after something like that… "Guess what?" I asked the leader of their team "I can do more damage than **that** measly fireball."

The magmar after me launched a flamethrower, but after all of my recent training, my speed was **monstrous**. Better than I had shown my friends. I was willing to show it off now. His flames hit an afterimage, as I had quickly twisted around it and darted behind him.

He received a flail to the top of his skull, and he was down but not out. I decided to finish that with a few stabs from my sword before he fainted.

 _One down._

My tangela teammates were easily avoiding the others. This would become slightly repetitive. I darted away from the blasts from the magmortar, who… seemed not to be moving. Was that all he knew how to do?

Apparently so. Defeating the others was so similar to the first that describing it would be utterly pointless. Two down. Three down. I just approached the oblivious magmars as they attacked my teammates and continually missing their marks, and taking them down.

It was just Magmortar against us three. He was literally on fire, so we would be in trouble with physical attacks. My only real long range attack was magical leaf. I wondered if that was even usable… No, it would burn up just getting near him.

Now it was a real dilemma. He kept firing those attacks at us, which now ranged from fireballs to magma to flamethrowers if we got too close. The magma was definitely a problem.

I leaped over to my tangela teammates. "Alright, you two. I would have to get close to do this, but it will hurt a lot. Cage him." I ordered.

I attracted the large pokemon's attention, and my tangela blasted a dozen vines each into the ground, the vines driving through the dirt of the arena. Another new trick we had devised. Magmortar, bless him, was just firing at me repetitively and **not** moving.

 _The dunce…_

My weapons glowed with power as I gathered energy within them. I would need a lot of power here. I would need to finish it as quickly as possible.

I analyzed my opponent. The large fire type took approximately five seconds to launch a second fireball, seven seconds to launch a flamethrower after the last one, and an entire twenty seconds to launch another attack after launching magma.

 _Of course. More energy needs to be built back into his cannon to fire, and a magma burst requires more energy._

With him firing at random and hoping I slowed down, I had to just wait until… Ah, there it was. A large blob of magma aimed for my face. Joy. "Now!" I shouted.

As I blurred past the attack and raced towards the fire type, the vines that the tangela had been driving through the dirt erupted all around him and tied themselves together in a radius away from the heat of Magmortar, creating a jungle gym.

The behemoth of a pokemon, startled by this appearance, tried to fire and found that he couldn't. Just as I had planned. I dashed forward as fast as I could, and jumped to one of the stiffened vines. I braced my weapons.

"Take this!" I shouted "Jungle barrage!"

I activated quick attack as well, expending a ton of energy, and started dashing by Magmortar, bouncing off of the vines creating the not around us, striking him with my weapons. Faster and faster I darted about, until the only thing visible was the flashes of green as I struck repeatedly with my weapons, bashing the fire type about.

His fire was hurting me, but I ignored it and started attacking so fast that the green light was all that was visible. Finally, I had no strength left and I kicked myself away to the ground while the tangela twins retracted their vines quickly. While they seemed fine, I was cooked. Literally cooked. I had burns all over me, but as I looked at my work, Magmortar looked like he was still standing.

 _Nasty bugger. Too durable._

I struggled to stand, and so did he. Hopefully my tangela could handle him. "All right, guys." I called to them weakly "I'm down for the count here. you should be able to finish him off, all right?"

 **Crash!**

"Or… he can just topple over like an asshole after pretending to be fine." I finished, sweatdropping.

" **THE WINNER IS TEAM IVY!** "

We were flashed over to the medical area where we were quickly hit by heal pulses and given some bowls of food for healing statuses. Then, we found ourselves being flashed over to our seats again. I felt fine again, though I still felt a little cooked. For that reason, I grabbed the first rawst berry in the little basket I had and chowed it down before I said anything.

"Very well done." Caleb complimented me "That maneuver was impressive. Remind me to keep an eye on your tangela teammates."

"Wouldn't you like a reminder." I shot back at him. He would remember anyways. Any strategy we used on someone else would be useless against Caleb. He would prepare for all of it. Oh well. He was a friend, and I was okay with losing to someone like him if he can handle it.

He gave me a smile, and I returned it. Goodness, it was good to have friends.

"That will likely be the last of us to be called today." Caleb informed us "the next rounds will likely be more fast paced of course."

"The first round did last three days last time." I nodded. So many pokemon, even fighting fast paced battles, would take days for the first round. Plenty of time to rest. Each round would be followed by a day of rest, and each portion of the tournament would be separated by a week.

"We shall see what occurs today." Caleb decided.

we only recognized one more set of pokemon for today to go and fight. " **TEAM GLADE VERSUS TEAM SHOCK!** "

Caleb started. "I recognize the title. I believed that we met them for a moment the other day. It was merely for a moment, of course." he said.

"Reason enough to root for them." Daemyn reminded us. We nodded and sat back to watch the ampharos and greninja face off against the stantler and sawsbuck they were facing.

"Alright! I'm pumped for this!" Sapper exclaimed, jumping a bit.

"...Yes." Seigi replied eventually. As the ampharos made to touch him, he stepped aside. "I am a water type, Sapper." he reminded the girl "And we must be in perfect condition.

"Oh! Sure!" Sapper nodded and prepared herself for the fight.

Seigi too got in a fighting stance, condensed water shurikens appearing in his hands.

" **BEGIN!** "

Seigi was no longer visible. The speed was really impressive. Heck, **I** wasn't capable of that. I could leave afterimages with my speed, but I was still able to be seen. The greninja… He was gone.

"This match will be short." Caleb predicted.

Sapper built up a mass of electricity around her body and fired a large bolt of energy at the opposing stantler. the sawsbuck, likely hoping to stall for a moment with his additional durability against electric types. However, he was thrown aside by a sudden kick by Seigi, who darted away in time for the slow bolt of energy to strike stantler.

Caleb's prediction was correct again. The stantler and the sawsbuck were likely a newer team, and the poor stantler was promptly one-shot by the bolt of lightning, and the sawsbuck was hit with some sort of attack even **I** couldn't see that must have at least not been the water type.

Seigi stood over the fallen sawsbuck, victorious. Game over.

"After your match and team Honor's match, I am disappointed with the effectiveness of the strategy, but there would have been no point." Caleb muttered "At least we can be glad that acquaintances of ours have progressed further."

"Yeah." Sarah agreed.

"Indeed" Ninetails agreed.

 _Hmm… Sarah or Ninetails? Who does he like better?_

he treated them exactly the same, so it was difficult to tell. Well, not entirely. He had a greater degree of respect for Ninetails, and had a sympathy of sorts for Sarah. Ninetails probably had a better chance.

 _Tonight, before we all get to bed, we'll let team Edge head off and plan. I feel rather evil right now. Shall we arrange an embarrassing scenario, or a romantic one? We have to be collectively smarter than Caleb to pull off any real tricks, so…_

"The sun is nearing the point to where the pokemon will head home." Caleb murmured, looking to the sky. Indeed, a beautiful sunset would soon replace the blue of the sky.

"Indeed" Ninetails said again.

After thirty more minutes, the announcer allowed the last battle to finish up. " **ALRIGHT, FOLKS! THAT IS ALL THE BATTLES FOR TODAY, SO GET A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP AND HAVE A GOOD ONE!** " the exploud roared, and the pokemon began to crowd as they filed out. Some reluctantly, some less so.

As we got up, Caleb spoke directly to Ninetails. "I would wish to speak with you." he told her "We may arrange a time. Your decision, of course. I had gotten the impression that you wished to know more about the human world."

Ninetails gave him a polite smile (that, I noticed, had sarah stiffening even though she wasn't looking.) "Then we shall." she replied "I do have many questions for you."

"I would be glad to answer them." Caleb nodded. He looked to Sarah, and I ran through the possibilities. Would he tell her to stay with Shedinja? "You and Shedinja may come along if you like." he told her "though you might want as much rest as you can get, as we have not fought our opponents yet."

Sarah looked unbelievably happy. The rest of us, however, found that there was no chance of turning this around into something humorous, embarrassing, and fun. No chance to turn it into what Caleb could laugh at later.

 _Darn it all._

"Alright, you guys do that." I said, and met Daemyn's eyes. He met the others' eyes, and they seemed to understand well enough. Caleb's piercing eyes found me, a flash of annoyance reaching them before he walked off.

"It's time for bed…" Amber murmured on her way out.

I nodded, and we all headed out. Tomorrow would be a big day, and we all needed sleep… along with having some plotting to do.

* * *

 **Daemyn's POV**

I refused to wake up the next morning until Bastiodon had to straight up kick me out of bed. I went sailing all the way out of the house and into the dirt, where I promptly fell asleep again.

I had stayed up too late. Plotting for Caleb's love life was tiring, and our strategies had to be absolutely perfect. "Get up." Bastiodon rumbled as he stomped out of the house and waking me again. "We have not had our battle as of yet, and I do not believe you want a disaster to occur."

"Five more minutes." I grumbled.

"No."

 **Clang!**

…

 **Thump!**

"Oh… **Fine**." I growled as I stood up, more awake now "You did not have to smack me into the air."

"I disagree." Bastiodon said flatly "You were unmotivated."

I frowned after him as he walked away. "And you aren't?"

"I am actually feeling a degree of anticipation." he responded. I blinked. He usually wasn't excited about things. I followed him now, Machoke joining us as we walked away. It was time for more tournament shenanigans.

We met up with the others at our spot in the stands, and the people around us had grown. Caleb had apparently invited teams Honor and Eternal Flame to join them. I walked right up and nudged my friend. "How'd your night with Ninetails go?" I asked, putting the absol in the spotlight instantly.

"She was very willing to ask questions, and thoroughly listened to my answers." Caleb responded, seemingly not disturbed at all. "I also learned quite a bit about the world. I believe that the scenario was mutually beneficial."

 _Meaning nothing more than questions happened. We have nothing to build on unless we make it happen._

Good thing we had spent some time on putting things together tonight.

"All of you are exhausted." Caleb noted, looking from Erza to me to Jake "You should not put yourself in a position where you will not be able to battle properly."

"Oh, c'mon." I protested "It'll be hours before any of us are chosen for battle."

Six battles later, about twenty minutes later, we were called up. Caleb gave me a look that had me wondering if he had developed the ability to tell the future. I wouldn't put it past him. I growled to myself as I found myself on the field, realizing that I had not the energy to keep awake, let alone fight.

Bastiodon nudged me. "Wake up now." he ordered. I forced myself to stand tall at the command, and sharpened my eyes. Sometimes, sleep was irrelevant. It was now.

 _My physical needs are irrelevant. This battle is relevant._

I was always powerful, stronger than most. I was no longer tired because **I did not need to be**. I raised glaring eyes towards my opponents. Grass types. A venusaur accompanied by two parasect. At least it wasn't one of those unimaginative mono-evolution line teams. Even so…

"They will focus on status moves. Machoke, flip the venasaur over. He'll be dragging out a solarbeam, I think."

"On it." he rumbled in reply.

"Bastiodon, you are on 'take out anything that moves' duty.

"Obviously."

"I guess I'll just do that as well." I grumbled.

" **BEGIN!** "

Venusaur used sunny day instantly. Machoke was halfway to it. I was halfway to one of the parasect, and started striking it repeatedly with shadow balls until it released a spore attack that would have my wishes for further sleep fulfilled.

 _To lose or not to lose, that is the question. Where the heck does that phrase come from, anyways?_

I got out of there quick, and watched as Bastiodon promptly blasted them.

 **BWEEEEEN!**

 _Brute force has it's merits._

Us as a group, Caleb, Erza, Jake, me, our teams were evidently some of the strongest. Our battles were not too long. The difficulty would not truly spike until we got to the later portions of the tournament. One parasect down. Machoke had literally carried a flabbergasted venusaur away from their parasect friend, though even my extremely strong teammate was panting under the strain of carrying something so heavy. I quickly focused on the other parasect and bombarded him with shadow balls until my ghost type energy was spent.

Two down.

Of all of the things I was capable of, my ghost type energy ran out eventually, and being tired as I was, it ran out quickly, but my job was done. Machoke gave the giant plant pokemon a seismic toss, which slammed the inversatile pokemon against the ground upside down.

We collected ourselves as the larger pokemon flipped itself over with difficulty. it was **mad**. Light began pouring into the bulb on it's back, gathering extremely quickly. I realized that we would likely be one hit KO'd by a solarbeam, but bastiodon stood ahead of us.

He gathered the light for flash cannon, building immense power. By the time Venusaur got to fire, so did Bastiodon.

 **BWEEEEEEEN!**

Again, Bastiodon was using his flash cannon. The attacks collided and started to try and repel each other. Pushing against the other strike and releasing small beams of energy in all directions (one nicking the tip of my tail), tearing apart the floor of the arena in multiple places. The power struggle was intense, because solarbeam is an attack that focuses on the strength of the sunlight, or if what Caleb was going on about was correct, strength of the radiation from the sun or whatever. Venusaur was using the sun, but Bastiodon was using his own energy.

What saved Bastiodon was the set time that solarbeam tends to last, and as Bastiodon ran out of steel type energy, the solarbeam petered out. Bastiodon and I were now wiped. My eyes widened as venusaur was charging yet another attack.

 _I don't know what to do. We could lose right here. No!_

Machoke had an idea, apparently. Without my orders, he promptly flipped the large pokemon with the last of his strength, just as the massive pokemon began launching the solarbeam.

 **BWOOOOM!**

The energy promptly exploded right in Venusaur's face, and actually launched him high into the sky as people cheered. I knew the match was over before the plant pokemon slammed into the ground.

I staggered over to my teammates. "Well done." I told them gratefully "I think Caleb would want us to learn something from that."

"If you have an idea, one that doesn't interfere with the leader's plan or the plan has failed, go ahead if you must or talk about it." Bastiodon intoned pretty much instantly "because it can make the battle."

"Which is to say that the non-leader members must be more independent." I decided "Machoke proved that, I think."

We were flashed out of the arena, healed, and flashed back to our seats, where I promptly curled up and tried to go to sleep. Damn, I was tired. Caleb left his spot between the girls and came over to me. "Well done." he complimented me "And good work to Machoke as well. All of your team contributed to that victory."

"Yep." I responded "Can I sleep now?"

Caleb sighed. "Yes, you can sleep." he responded, walking away. "Have your nap and get some rest." he ordered over his shoulder "You obviously were up all night."

Everyone who had been present in plotting the advancement of his love life cringed. He was too smart for that.

"If I may ask…" Ninetails began, but I interrupted

"It was a very important conversation that we can't talk about here." I interrupted before I closed my eyes and rested my head. Time for a lengthy nap.

* * *

 **Sarah's POV**

We watched as more people we knew had their battles. Everybody we had seen before had won their battles over time. The matches were more fast paced now. So many battles in one day. What was next was what I personally had been anticipating all day.

" **TEAM MEANIES VERSUS TEAM EDGE!** "

Amber froze. I looked to her, startled. "What is, it, Amber?" I asked. The grl gave me a frightened look, and Absol took the time to explain.

"Team Meanies is the group that were willing to terrorize Amber when she first came to this world." Absol informed us "They caused a lot of trouble for them, and they still don't like her at all."

Caleb stiffened, and everyone became alarmed as they remembered what would happen. They were going to calm him somewhat, but unfortunately for this team Meanies, we flashed over to the arena. I looked about, seeing the stands surrounding us, and realized that every single eye was upon us.

Shedinja was not affected by the magic transport at all, which caused a bit of trouble. " **...ERM…. WOULD THEIR SHEDINJA TEAMMATE PLEASE ENTER THE ARENA?** " the exploud roared the question, and Shedinja began to make his way down to the field while some of the audience laughed and others groaned.

"Being completely immune to magic has proven a mild inconvenience." Caleb observed.

"gives us time to discuss a strategy." I offered. He gave me a proud look and while the rest of my vision aside from him seemed to go fuzzy, he analyzed the opponent.

"A gengar, a medicham, and a snake-like pokemon I do not recognize." Caleb began "A ghost type and a psychic type, so I will be maining my night slash, as well as the apparent poison type of the other gives me a reason to use my psycho cut. Shedinja can easily handle the other two, so our priority is taking Gengar down."

I had been listening to every word, of course. Every syllable. "Yes." I agreed, tearing my gaze from my beloved to face our opponents. "I can take him down. Would you kindly distract the other two?"

"Consider it done."

 _We make such a great team!_

" **Shedinja** "

" **BEGIN!** " the announcer roared as soon as he could. Gengar gave us a laugh and prepared a shadow ball between his hands. "Ke-he-he!" I sweatdropped.

 _I guess it sounds less stupid than 'chaw-haw-haw'... Marginally._

I built my own shadow ball, and promptly overwhelmed the one he threw, as mine was twice as large. His eyes widened, and he melted into his own shadow. What remained as the sphere flew over what was a circular pool of darkness that began speeding towards me.

 _So fast!_

I built a flamethrower but he was suddenly out of the ground with a shadowy fist right in my face and sending me flying back. I finished the backflip and skidded to a halt on my paws, searching for the bugger. I froze. The shadow was racing towards Shedinja!

I fired off a quick water pulse, interrupting his charge, and knocking him out of the shadow. I quickly then built up a large amount of power and blasted a great flamethrower at the guy while Shedinja cleared out.

He was enveloped in the fire, the flames roaring through the air. I thought it reminiscent of a fast moving river, sweeping the ghost pokemon away. I let the flames die down, expecting to see a charred unconscious body.

Nope.

Gengar had apparently withstood the attack, and was giving me that stupid laughing noise again. "Hey!" I exclaimed "When I burn things, they're supposed to drop and pass out, got it!?"

"Ke-he-he…" he gave that dumb laugh. "You'll need more than that!"

He did that stupid shadow sneak again, aiming for me. I frowned. Did I not have a way to combat this? I am pretty certain that I did. My azure gow erupted around my body, locking my body in place in time for him to erupt out of the ground and stop cold with his fist having halted after crashing into my snout.

"Wh-what!?" Gengar shouted in surprise.

I looked up, a glint in my eye. "Sorry." I told him, a sphere of burning fire building in my open mouth "But I think that laugh of yours sounds really stupid."

 **Fwooooooooom!**

Gengar was engulfed in a massive beam-like formation of fire as it erupted from my maw, completely hiding his dark form and hurling him back extremely far into the far wall, down for the count. I smiled, and turned to Shedinja. "You're in the clear." I informed him, before turning to meet the other two opponents…

...Who were beaten and unconscious in a pile while Caleb stood passively next to them. God, he was so cool like that. I gave him a winning smile, as the announcer called our victory. "Round one defeated!" I exclaimed.

"Now we can relax." Caleb responded as we were sent back.

I charged him for a tackle-hug and got slammed into the ground again. He was amazing even when he was holding my face in the dirt

"Calm yourself." Caleb ordered. He was so **cool**!

"No." I returned through the dirt, trying to get up and pounce on him. I remembered it check my absol sense to see our friend staring at us.

When Caleb let me go, I had him in as much of an embrace as I could manage. He tolerated it with his awesome blank face that conveyed his impressive attitude towards everything. That is, he tolerated it for a minute before he tossed me away towards Machoke, who deftly caught me and set me down.

"Are you satisfied?" Caleb asked of me.

I gave him as cute of a smile as I could muster. "For now." I answered him, causing him to sigh.

Ninetails had a disapproving look about her. I trusted her a bit more after last night, where she had asked me plenty of questions as well and was polite, and best of all, showed as little interest towards Caleb as Caleb showed to either of us.

Unless the others put her in the equation, she was not a threat. She and I could get along. However, that disapproving look had me wondering what she thought of Caleb, or was I just being too overbearing? Most definitely overbearing, but what did I care? I needed my Caleb.

He was mine, no matter what the others tried. Period.

"There are still more of the people that we have met that I have yet to see in combat." Caleb reminded us. We perked at the reminder and focused on the field again while Amber went to speak with Caleb for a moment.

Absol was the one to explain it to me. "Gengar, Medicham and Arbok used to take steps to terrorize Amber and Charizard, who was then a charmander. They enjoyed it, and the fact that she was human had very little to do with it. Even so, they used that to frame the two for supposedly causing the natural disasters dotting the region at that time." he explained "However, when push came to shove, and Amber and Charmander were in danger because they were falling from sky tower after the force of Rayquaza's hyper beam, Gengar moved and got them out of there when everything looked bleak."

I looked over to Caleb, who was talking with Amber, looking calm. He had looked calm by the end of the battle, actually. Even before it began. He must have understood the situation as soon as he saw them. At least, I assumed this.

"So… They're not nice to everybody." I concluded.

"Much like the team Skull that seems to be involved in some of the things that Jake and Swampert dealt with, though they have no evident redeeming features." Absol nodded "I believe Caleb has understood that considering their attitude towards your team."

I looked to him. "By the way, what happened with Caleb and the other two? I was a bit busy roasting Gengar." I asked.

"His psycho cut rendered Arbok unconscious instantly, and medicham tried to hit him only to strike his armor, and was struck with a slash attack and then a night slash from afar. It was very quick and efficient." Absol informed me.

"For pokemon who are apparently real troublemakers…" I muttered "They don't seem to be that tough."

"Evidently."

I walked over to Caleb, who had begun another rant about the odds. "The first round, and we fight someone that you happen to know very well and also has been a pivotal point in your life, despite the large negative aspect. The odds of that are-"

"Irrelevant." Absol interrupted "There is not much of a point in complaining about the odds when the world goes directly against those odds."

Caleb looked over to him. "I just want **something** to make sense." he explained. "Something? Anything? Please?" he mock pleaded "If this world does what it's supposed to do **once** , I might be a bit happier."

"I get it, you know I do." I told him moving forward.

"It is understandable." Ninetails spoke up "Considering your origin in a world where magic is not real and other things are always relevant. In this case, you are absolutely correct; the idea that you would come across an opponent that you already know or an acquaintances know is very low."

"I am glad to know that the odds apparently matter." Caleb conceded "Perhaps I can appropriately calculate something someday, when the universe is done making my life difficult."

He got plenty of sympathetic looks.

"Of the people we know, we have not seen any of the guildmasters be called up to fight, team Destiny Bond have not been called up, and neither has Alger, that Shade girl, or Keron and his family." Daemyn muttered. "And team Eternal Flame. Those guys have not shown themselves yet.

Caleb looked down towards the field. "I was unaware that the guildmasters were competing." He commented.

"Well, it's just about everyone who wants to be involved." Erza reminded him "Most of the guildmasters are going solo as to not have it being unfair for others, but I think Chatot is staying with Wigglytuff."

"Good to know." Caleb conceded. "I guess we shall wait then."

We did wait. We waited and watched battles, Caleb taking down any and all strategies he saw. when Alger was called up, I leaned forward. It would be interesting to see how a fellow pokemon with different colors would handle his fighting.

"Oh… come off it." Caleb muttered. Across from alger was a massive snorlax. "Are we to expect that this battle will not be one sided?"

"Snorlaxes can be very powerful." Ninetails informed him "...if it actually wakes up."

We sweatdropped. Alger's victory could be down to how lazy this thing was? "Well… Good luck." I said aloud.

" **BEGIN!** "

Snorlax just snored loudly. Alger seemed to think his plan through, before he stomped the ground with a paw. A circle of purple light appeared under the sleeping pokemon, which turned into a nasty looking purple muck. I hadn't seen this move before.

"That was very good." Ninetails commented.

"Toxic." Erza muttered before I could ask. Wasn't that the really powerful poison type move that caused a far worse version of the poison affliction?"

"I get the sense that Alger is not the type for brute force." Caleb commented.

"If the snorlax ever wakes up, he will be at a major disadvantage. If not…" Jake muttered

"Then he's out." Jess finished "And they'll get him out of there.

Alger waited for about ten minutes for the toxic attack to whittle down his opponent's energy, but eventually, the large pokemon did wake up, yawning and sitting up slowly. He pondered the pokemon in front of him, as if trying to recall what was happening.

"Why does he keep his eyes closed?" Shulk asked.

"You'll see…" Daemyn murmured.

Snorlax roared, and opened his eyes, which were glowing with power. A massive beam erupted from his eyes, one that I recognized. "A hyper beam!?" I yowled in surprise as the explosion rocked the arena and smoke and dust filled the air.

"A snorlax fires it's hyper beam with it's eyes." Daemyn explained "Which is why they keep them mostly closed even when awake. I learned that the hard way."

"The damage was immense…" Caleb murmured.

We waited tensely for the smoke to clear. When it did, we saw an impressive sight. The ground around Alger had been pulverized, making a sort-of crater in front and around the shiny umbreon, though the area behind him was fine and so was he. He was surrounded by a familiar azure glow, made brighter by the color of his rings glowing as well.

"Protect." I recognized the move.

Snorlax needed to recover, and of course he was still being taken down by the poison. The match would be over soon. Alger turned invisible with a feint attack, but did not strike. He likely wandered off somewhere.

"Defensive and evasive." Erza nodded "Not one to attack."

"He doesn't need to." Charizard pointed out as the behemoth was looking about for his target for another minute before promptly collapsing and falling unconscious.

" **THE WINNER IS ALGER!** "

"Will the magic runes keeping the floor intact be able to fix all of that damage?" Caleb asked "And clean up the leftover sludge from that toxic attack?"

None of us answered him, or even had time to, as the stadium answered for him by effectively returning the field to normal. Caleb nodded to himself.

We continued to wait. Time flew by, as the battles did. It was entirely possible that the rest of the battles would be completed today at this rate. Which was then accelerated because two guildmasters wound up on the floor (and won, obviously). What happened next had us all in anticipation. " **QUEEN NINETAILS VERSUS TEAM RIVER!** "

This would be interesting. I was ready to watch this guildmaster in action, against the water type and rock type mix of pokemon, who all looked tough. A golem, a sharpedo (who had been provided a magic sphere of water that allowed her to move freely through the area), a simipour, and a boldore behind them.

" **BEGIN!** "

Ninetails suddenly released a lot of heat, and the sunlight became far warmer than a normal sunny day. Flames licked about her fur, traveling along her flank and back, and along her tails. There was a **lot** of power there.

"That's Drought." Jake identified "I always wondered how pokemon could hold that ability back."

"The ozone layer has been further damaged." Caleb deadpanned.

"Ah well, she looks awesome like that." Daemyn responded. She did indeed look impressive like that. She was rushed by her opponents, who had completely abandoned strategy in favor of a full force assault. Of course they had.

A familiar sphere of energy built above Ninetails' head, about three feet above her, rippling. A solarbeam not from her mouth or from a different appendage; she was summoning it with sheer will. Her opponents quickly panicked and backtracked from the attack, fleeing in different directions to avoid the battle being ended in a single attack.

 **BWEEEEEEN!**

The attack obliterated the area where the semipour had stood, blasting a massive crater in the ground this time as the attack had been more focused than Sage's attack, and an unconscious semipour within that crater.

"She did not turn her head to fire at the opponent, which was approximately thirty degrees east of north from her viewpoint." Caleb noted "She does not move at all in combat."

"She's really cool." Daemyn muttered.

"I wouldn't call that cool." Erza replied.

"Hot, then." Daemyn amended. "Though not hotheaded. Not like Sarah."

"Hey!" I protested at the jab.

"My point exactly."

While I fumed, and Daemyn chuckled at his victory (I vowed to get him back later) Ninetails caused another ruckus. The ninetails had gathered the tips of her tails together above her, where a hyper beam generated. While we waited for something else to blow up, she instead split off the sphere of condensed energy into nine smaller spheres that stayed at the tips of her tails. Those spheres then condensed to mere pinpricks on the tip of each of her tails, shining with light.

"That is an original use of hyper beam, and I can only imagine that someone with immense mental capability could manage that with volatile energy of that sort." Erza commented.

"She will be a dangerous opponent." Caleb commented.

The other team, in their panic, had not taken advantage of Ninetails' need to rest after building the immense energy for a hyper beam, which had already passed. She could now use those powerful attacks with ease and not needing to recharge again.

"This match is over." Erza predicted.

Ninetails did not so much as look at her enemies, remaining perfectly still. Facing ahead. As the team attacking her recovered, the sharpedo tried to fire a blast of water from the lake that it could move around in.

Ninetails simply fired a near instantaneous white beam from one of her tails, using up that portion of the hyper beam, annihilating the water attack and scattering it, also blasting Sharpedo and launching the pokemon away. The magic water sphere had limits, at a certain height, it would act like the water's surface, and Sharpedo would be out of the water at that height.

sharpedo was sent flipping through open air as the blast had knocked her past that height, and she finally landed in the water pool that had appeared when she reached that area again. The sharpedo was still up, but barely. The strength of her opponents did not match her.

Ninetails generated a solarbeam again, and took out the boldore that was trying to ever so quietly sneak up on her despite being made of stone and being very heavy. With it's sturdy, it was able to last. It nearly got a power gem off, but it was quickly knocked out by another near instantaneous beam.

 **Bewn!**

"Those attacks are far faster in how they move than the attack that the snorlax before had." Caleb noted.

Golem tried to startle her by using a rollout, and again got instantly knocked out by the solarbeam that was generated. The sharpedo was left, and likely knew that it was in vain, but she still attempted to charge the ninetails and was blasted by another hyper beam and knocked out.

Ninetails sent the remaining attacks into the sky in angles that would keep them from colliding with one another, and the heat died down as she lost the fire traveling through her fur and the light stopped being so bright and obvious as the ninetails began holding back her drought ability.

She warped back, unharmed. "Well done." Caleb complimented her.

"That was cool." Daemyn agreed "Or… Hot. Whichever."

She gave them both a smile in turn. "I have practiced my techniques for most of my life." she explained "I have become particularly efficient at it."

After Caleb and Daemyn voiced their agreement, we returned to waiting yet again. I almost, **almost** got to give him a spontaneous nuzzle while he was concentrating on a particular strategy that was playing out, but my snout became best friends with the dirt a moment later. Darn that absol sense he had up at all times!

Team Eternal Flame was announced to battle soon enough, and we watched them flash onto the field together. Kemuri was ready for a fight, though she was the youngest of the group, and the others were prepared for their battle as well. They were against a group of water types along with an electric type, obviously. Why wouldn't they be?

" **BEGIN!** "

The teams charged forward. Barreling towards each other with little strategy in mind. At least, that is how it appeared. I saw the two mates speaking with each other. They did indeed have a plan.

One that apparently involved amusing shenanigans.

Manectric charged the flareon, only to jolt to a stop in confusion while Vulnona and the others handled his teammates. He looked around to see a little vulpix hanging from his tail by her teeth. Their eyes met before Manectric's mind seemed to comprehend that his tail was being bitten, and he yowled in pain while the vulpix dropped down and then jumped above him, unleashing a burst of fire to damage the larger, older pokemon.

 _That little one is good at fighting…_

Vulnona had swept past the charging relicanth, swiping her tails through the water sphere to brush against the rock and water type, and her eyes flashed green. The pokemon quickly began to thrash as if in pain. Then, Vulnona smashed it with a flamethrower (the magic water sphere seemed not to affect fire) and knocked it out immediately.

"What was that?" I asked.

"Our species can curse others." Ninetails explained casually "it is our form of active magic; and can be used for a variety of purposes and is more instinctual than normal active magic. Instead of words and phrases, we use our will and impose what we wish on the opponent. It is always temporary, though the more injured we are, the longer the curse lasts. I would wager that Vulnona simply changed her opponent's type."

"And all that was required was contact with her tails?" Caleb asked "That is a very dangerous thing that I must pay attention to"

Redmond had dodged a water gun to help Kemuri defeat her electric opponent before he had the presence of mind to discharge the energy in his body and shock her badly. He blasted the pokemon away with… water!? "Uh… Isn't he a flareon?" I asked.

The water left the manectric with burns and the water steamed a lot, meaning it was very hot water. The pokemon on the other team were startled enough that they stared at their leader, who was unconscious after a last flame burst from Kemuri.

"That was 'scald'…" Ninetails murmured, impressed to a degree "I was not aware that a flareon could learn such a thing."

Gunner knocked a floatzel towards Redmund, who proceeded to generate a large circle of electric spheres around him; a hidden power. He zapped the opponent with each of the twelve spheres, one at a time, until it too fainted.

You can probably imagine the look on the lantern's face as all four turned to look at her. she let out a little 'eep' sound, before being charged. The timid pokemon swam into the air a bit, with the water space available being about triple Vulnona's height.

"Now, Vulnona, we could use an ability change here." Redmond offered.

"Good idea." the ninetails nodded, and charged the water type, who panicked and launched a water gun at Vulnona. Forced to retreat from the water, the fire type rounded to the side while Redmond came to the other with a scald ready.

The lanturn ended up stalling for time, keeping the ninetails away as long as possible. Thus, Redmund's scald attacks were the only attacks to reach it, though the water attack too was unhindered by the magic water sphere letting the water dwelling pokemon compete reasonably.

The entire team suffered several discharges, but they were all standing as the lanturn fell. The match was called, and Redmund and his family were transported back to the stands.

Shulk had appeared very impressed, and had laughed his furry tail off when Kemuri had pulled off the first attack. He quickly approached the vulpix and congratulated her on being incredibly funny in her style of combat.

"...Is Shulk going to try and match that silliness?" I heard Jake whisper to Jess.

"Probably." Jess whispered back.

As it turns out, that would be the first time the two of them met, and they made friends real quick. Their childish silliness was adorable. I giggled at their shenanigans.

And then we watched more battles. Putting them all in detail would have little point. It was when Goldeneye and her family were called up did we focus in on the battle.

But there was nothing to see, really. They were up against a team so new that a single powerful move could knock them out.

The two opponents were hesitant to charge, and the three we knew were even more hesitant to fight, but eventually they had to try something. One got struck with a single magic bolt that acted a lot like that impact trick Keron had, and slammed into the ground, unconscious. The other was bashed by a fist as he tried to come on goldfinger's left, and he punched them without really looking.

So the next interesting fight had to do with that weird hostile girl, Shade. The zoroark had her bone-like mask in place, appearing like a skull, and kept her paw on the pouch she carried, which exuded some weird purple and black aura from whatever was inside of it. Incredibly creepy.

She faced an onix. Those really powerful rock snake guys that typically get in the way while traveling through the crystal community. The equivalent of a sentient tree blocking the road. That, and they tend to get mad **fast**.

An onix that burrowed into the ground extremely quickly as soon as the announcer said " **BEGIN!** "

The zoarark gathered darkness around her and with a spin, silently enshrouded most of the arena. The darkness seemed to clear, showing Shade in a different place. She stood shifting, looking about. That was when the ground underneath the zoroark started to break apart, before erupting as the giant snake pokemon crushed her and sent her flying.

That is, until the image of her shimmered and faded. The onix gawked at thin air, before Shade was on his back and running up the beast, slashing at every stone in it's body with her claws, one covered in ghostly energy and the other with dark energy, as she ran. The girl leaped up and slashed his head numerous times before leaping aways and landing in the darkness again. She faded into the mist that was now surrounding the field and appeared somewhere else.

 _Illusions._

Without a proper strategy, Onix was toast. He tried to change how he saw the field through a cloud of dust by spinning around, doing the equivalent of chasing his tail. This only thing that did was provide more cover for the zoroark, who was apparently content to do the odd bit of chip damage whenever she could.

Because chip damage does wonders if you never get hit at all. Shade was not one to let the opponent to get a hit in to make them feel better. If she got hit, she may have been badly harmed that time anyhow.

None of us could actually see the result, but with all of those illusions, Shade was panting next to an unconscious giant rock snake.

" **THE WINNER IS SHADE!** "

"Of course it is." she muttered, patting the pouch at her side.

Finally, Keron and his family were sent out to entertain the crowd. They were among the last fifty battles of the first round; more than half of the pokemon in the stadium were no longer a part of this section of the tournament.

My least favorite umbreon with his flickering red rings growled menacingly at his foes, who consisted of two aron and a lairon. Another team made entirely of one evolution line.

 _Why are those types of teams everywhere?_

Keron charged a moment before the announcer said " **BEGIN!** "

By the time his family caught up to him, he had brutally tossed the aron away and leapt away from a rock blast sent by the lairon. The lairon, however, soon beheld the fury of a flare blitz, a powerful take down when releasing a large quantity of fire in all directions. Austburn sent the much heavier pokemon skidding away about four meters, already looking damaged.

Lairon growled and stomped the ground, releasing ground type energy and shaking the very earth. If Snowshy had not thought quickly and lifted the male up with a psychic trick, the attack would have devastated Austburn.

I was so busy watching that, I had missed Keron being battered by the earthquake attack, attacking anything in his path even after being hurt so badly. Snowshy was quite badly battered as well.

However, the lairon had proceeded to knock out his own teammates, who had been far more brutally struck by the earthquake. "Well, that was bad planning." I muttered.

The quilava quickly leapt away from the lairon, and landed on a shimmering wall that Snowshy had summoned with a glow of her eyes. Keron darted behind that wall.

Caleb shot to his paws, looking at the family with a mixture of respect and surprise. I looked again, and Keron charged a massive amount of energy in his paw and struck the blood red flame-like magic against the shield, shattering it and launching Austburn at an incredible rate.

Austburn wreathed himself in flame for a flare blitz, and the lairon had nothing on the intense speed that the makeshift missile had, in a full force tackle. Lairon was blasted away, knocked out practically instantly. Battered yet standing, Austburn shook himself off and joined his adoptive parents, grinning widely.

" **AND THE WINNERS ARE KERON AND HIS FAMILY!** "

Caleb smiled. "Well done, you three." he said.

Ninetails was frowning. "Has he burned dark runes into his fur?" she asked, incredulous "The effects of doing so can be negative indeed, and he has burned many of them into his flank, chest, ankles, back and tail. I think there are even less visible ones around the ring on his head."

"Yes." Caleb replied "But when I met him, what I cared about was whether the effects of his treatment of himself affected his family or not, and he cares for them deeply. They will be fine." he assured the guildmaster/queen.

She gave him a curious look. "You analyzed them from here?" she asked, impressed.

He waved that off. "No. I met them a few days ago and analyzed their connection then. Snowshy and Austburn will be perfectly safe, as Keron cares about them above all others. Snowshy is there to keep her h-... Mate from getting carried away while attacking others."

I wondered what he had almost said. Maybe the human equivalent of a mate? Perhaps I should learn that word…

"I did not expect you to so quickly shove down praise as such." Ninetails finally replied, having nodded at Caleb's explanation.

"Welcome to our world…" Daemyn muttered. I smacked him over the head with a paw.

"Be nice!" I scolded him.

He got in my face. "Cool it, hothead." he returned. I slammed the piece on my head into his forehead as we began to argue. It had turned from me trying to help Caleb to doing what I tended to do with a friend of mine.

But I did want to roast him for that comment anyways. I might just have, if Erza had not pounded us into the ground with her flail. "Children, **please**." she scolded us. I looked up at her, and in the background, Ninetails was sweatdropping while Caleb had a typical deadpan look that made him look so calm and collected.

I rubbed the back of my head with my paw (not an easy task) and apologized. Daemyn inched further from Erza and I and closer to Caleb and Ninetails. Jake, Jess, and the rest of the others watched from the sidelines.

"That is everyone we know." Caleb announced finally, interrupting what was going on. "It seems the only team that we know well that hadn't made it through the first round was that team of bug types. Team Emerald."

Now I sweatdropped. "Weren't they collectively one-shot because they were too busy jabbering on to notice a flamethrower that almost met mine in strength?"

"Yes."

"I hadn't even seen them" Jake admitted "Jess keeps distracting me."

"I'm not doing anything, you goof!" she retorted, punching his shoulder.

"I know…" he muttered quietly.

"Really, round one and half of us are crazy…" I exaggerated. Really, it was just Jake, Shulk, and myself that were crazy, but seriously. There was enough craziness around for all of us, and we did not need more people not knowing what they are doing.

Well, Jake was just being awkward and Shulk was talking up a storm to his new friend and Daemyn had a weird expression on his face, and I was… Me. So I guess that left me actually being crazy. Wonderful.

"In all honesty, I believe the only one losing my sanity over time here is myself." Caleb contradicted my thoughts "The world makes little sense, my instincts are splitting my conscious mind into fragments, and all of this could have been avoided. You are not going mad, Sarah. None of you are."

Caleb promptly turned to continue analyzing the strategies of the victors and failures of the tournament, leaving us in silence. There was no reasonable response to such a blatant truth, and I think we had learned by this point that Caleb was not a fan of denial.

"...I was not aware of your hardship." Ninetails finally told him, having been uninformed of that so far. It had not come up when they spoke after the first day of the first round last night. Teams Honor and Eternal Flame were also unaware of this, though they stayed silent in the background.

Caleb did not respond; he merely watched the next battle. Most of us had pained looks about us. With the first round nearly over, we had pretty much ended on a sour note.

I did not know what to do other than try and comfort him. Stepping forward, I grabbed his attention. "You can do it." I assured him, moving as close as I dared. "You know you are strong enough. **I** know it."

He shook his head. "I have been failing to do so for a long time." He replied sullenly.

"Hey." I said, trying to sound stern but finding myself unwilling to be anything other than as kind as I possibly could be. "Please don't give up, Caleb. What you are going through… It may be natural, but not to you."

 _What the heck am I saying!? Those instincts are my best chance!_

 _But… Caleb is in pain..._

Caleb looked me in the eye. "You are correct." He finally said "But kind words will not change whether I have the ability to resist forever, and that is the question I cannot answer at this time. I am… Not optimistic."

I couldn't help it, I put my paw on his shoulder, making contact with him. I did not know how much of a difference this made to him, but it might have made it harder for him. " **Caleb** " I called to him. " **Please**."

"Do you wish for me to pretend?" he challenged, now keeping his eye on the battlefield and taking mental notes again. "I will not pretend. You ask for me to help you help me, but unless anyone can help me, there is nothing any of us can do. If I must, I shall fight my instincts until I go insane. I will take that chance."

Ninetails frowned at him. She was evidently as worried about him as I was. I moved my paw away. There was **nothing** I could do, and I hated it all.

By the time the day ended, everything just felt worse.

* * *

 **Caleb's POV**

"Would you please speak with me for a moment?" Ninetails' voice captured my attention as everyone but Shedinja and myself had left. Even Sarah had gone ahead, sneaking about to follow the others, maybe in the hopes of catching on to their plans to manage my life further, and I was left with the two people I trusted to understand me fully right now.

In other words, I was more at ease.

Of course, the back of my mind annoyingly twinged at the sight of Ninetails, the same as it did for Sarah and Amaterasu. I was able to ignore it now; the effect was in fact lessened by Amm… Amaterasu's torture of me.

"Yes." I replied, sitting down facing her.

" **Shedinja**." Shedinja said in her direction.

"This shall not be long." the queen-slash-guildmaster declared, moving forward. "Caleb, I would like to express my sympathy regarding your troubles with instincts."

"And I would like to express my gratitude for your concerns." I responded formally.

Ninetails neared me. "I like to imagine that I am one that can be trusted." She began, "And I wish to help you."

I thought through what she was telling me. What could she do to help deal with this problem? I was having trouble coming up with an answer. "I do not understand how you might." I finally admitted freely.

"It is simple." Ninetails flicked one of her tails and then sweeping it forward somewhat. "Our species is capable of a unique form of active magic known as a cursing type magic. Despite its name, which implies that the effect is always negative, it simply conforms to our will. The effect will be temporary, but it may be able to help you."

I blinked. Magic again. I kept not taking that factor into account. "You… Would do this for me?" I finally asked, finding nothing else to say. She gave me a nod. "You told me this was temporary… is there a way to remove the instincts entirely? Permanently?"

She tilted her head in thought. "Perhaps…. But not with this sort of magic. A way to truly isolate the instincts that control your emotions and destroy them would take months worth of careful building of magic runes. That is, if you were to give at least four hours a day to the task."

My head sunk slightly. "I would have to request for someone to spend that much time for me alone? Given a thirty-one day month, that would be one hundred and twenty four hours of work per month minimum… I cannot allow someone to take that job for me. It would exhaust them."

"You care for others." Ninetails noted calmly "Though I am certain that there are magic users who would gladly undertake such a task. From what I gleaned of your explanation of the human world, you might not be used to such… Extensive… Generosity and kindness."

"Not to an extent where they would exhaust themselves, no." I agreed.

"And yet someone went to the trouble of making you that magic item of yours." Ninetails reminded me, pointing at the box on my back. I looked at it, having forgotten that it was there, somehow.

"Yes, that was Goldeneye, from the team Destiny Bond. She seems to have taken a liking to doing projects for me, but she looked extremely exhausted during the nights when I saw her, and ordered her to stop. I believe she was working all day."

Ninetails shook her head. "Now that would be unhealthy, to spend so much time on it." she commented. I wholeheartedly agreed of course.

"If you believe that you can help me…" I murmured "Then please, if you can, I would greatly appreciate some alleviation from all of this pain."

Ninetails nodded and brought her tails around her in an array, around my head, and made contact with me with her tails. I felt a chill in my head, and I shivered unconsciously. Pain flared through my mind, and I promptly collapsed.

When that pain cleared, so did my head. I practically leaped back to my paws. I blinked. I stared. Ninetails… I felt nothing again! I felt like dancing for joy, something I had never done in my life. Freedom from all of that pain, that suffering My instincts forced me to go through. I was Caleb again, just like that.

I blinked. I stood stock still. I stared at the fox-like pokemon in front of me, before promptly bowing my head in deep respect. "Thank you…" I murmured, beyond grateful for her generosity.

"You are quite welcome." she replied after a moment "Remember that this effect will last only around a day."

I nodded. "Thank you again." I murmured "And I would not forget this." I looked at her, and then I looked at back to see my new treasure strapped to my back. "Ninetails, would you like to play a game of chess?"

 _My mind is free. I do not have to feel anything for anyone. I can be who I am supposed to be…_

My mental rant was cut off eventually. I barely heard the words as I reeled from the sheer happiness at being free, unhindered by my instincts, for now. It had such a powerful effect on how I saw the world right now; I saw it the way it should be. I was myself again. Finally. More than that… I also felt clarity. My mind felt less of the weight of my actions as I allowed myself to understand that this situation was all in the past, understanding that mourning would not help me move on. For twenty-four hours…

"Yes, Caleb." Ninetails replied "Would you explain to me how to play your game?"

I gave a smile and pulled the box from its place upon my back. "Yes, Ninetails." I told her "I will explain to you how to play."

I let the board fall open to the ground.

* * *

 **Well then. That was the first round. I did play with the idea that the annoying bug type team would progress, but they weren't exactly doing anything for the story, so I roasted them. literally.**

 **Jango: You are learning well, my-**

 **Me: If you say 'padawan', there is going to be a problem between us.**

 **Jango: Meh... You never let me have my fun.**

 **Me: What the heck are you talking about? I let you go prank the neihbors yesterday... so you wouldn't break anything. Anyways... The problem Caleb has will be temporarily solved as long as Ninetails is present, and he has to make a few decisions. And the chess game shall be left to your imagination.**

 **At any rate, I think that's all I can really say about this chapter. I hope you enjoyed, and I will see you all next time!**


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**Hello, one and all. Welcome to The Absolite Chronicles yet again. Here is where the tournament continued. Word of warning, the rounds are not going to be detailed completely any longer. I will be including the important battles, and will give some smaller details as the characters themselves would make note of them.**

 **I managed not to go completely overboard on this chapter, but I realized I completely omitted team Thunderwave and team Amber's battles last chapter... So i didn't this time. My silliness aside, this chapter is barely over 12k words, so it's shorter than recent chapters, but not too short.**

 **Amber: Oh? Is this... I remember today.**

 **Me: Let us let these readers find out for themselves. For now, it is time to respond to some reviews.**

 **Amber: A-alright... The first one was for book one, actually. Zero Lunar. I think he's reading the story chapters rapid fire here, and he seems to enjoy it. Maybe he'll be the next one to start reviewing constantly.**

 **Me: That'd be great. Who's next?**

 **Amber: Westernfail... Hang on, can you get this? I don't see Jango.**

 **Me: *Freezes up for a moment* Right. Keep him from doing anything. Anyways, Westernfail. Spotted some mistakes, did you? I will attempt to find them.**

 **Oh yes, Mysteries galore, ZLAXE. I build my stories on hidden details. I believe someone called for MatPat's assistance in the New Age reviews, and that's what I intend out of my story. I can't just have exposition dumps everywhere. I don't work like that (often). I think it's safe to assume they ate at some point. They have their stuff with them, after all. The pokemon they are fighting is not so specific. I had to toss some species names in there so that they weren't fighting physical blobs of pure plot substance. And Caleb's day of no instincts worked just fine.**

 **Caleb is actually better than I am at chess, Raven, though some of his strategies match my own. To answer the teleportation question, Dark types are not immune to magic. They are immune to psychic energy. Magic teleportation will work just fine while psychic teleportation is a waste of time to attempt. Also, a bit of a swing and a miss with your attempt not to make a pun. I get the sense that this was intentional.**

 **Thank you for the words of encouragement, Twistedmoonlight. And if you want to send a review, just go ahead. I love learning other people's opinions on each chapter.**

 **The 'BWEEEN' thing was an example I saw in some other things, and I thought it a fitting sound effect for giant lasers. This chapter has no such errors regarding 'Ninetails', just for you, though I kind of feel that the two can be interchangeable all things considered even if 'ninetails' is technically wrong.**

 **I agree with you, LucarioKing1008. The dream world has been absent for a while, though with events being similar, it would become somewhat repetitive to include it. But with things changing up a bit, things like that would become relevant again. And you're welcome.**

 **Thank you, Zero Lunar, for reviewing on book two as well. Your speculations will be answered... eventually. It is good that you were able to deduce her origin before it was revealed with one of my hints.**

 **And after all that, there is little more to do than begin the chapter. Enjoy, all of you. I'm going to go NOT fall into one of Jango's traps while you read this.**

* * *

 **Chapter 13: Tournament Round Two**

⌁ **Jake's POV ⌁**

I woke up slowly, deciding _No, I'm not going to open my eyes just yet._

Yesterday had been our rest day. Absolutely nothing of value had occurred for Caleb, as he so skillfully avoided all of us and nothing was achieved between him and Ninetales, or him and Sarah. He was just too smart for us.

I heard that he had a great game of chess, which nobody could beat him at, the night before yesterday. Apparently, Ninetales had provided quite the challenge, and had learned quickly. Caleb had explained to me, as well as the rest of us, that Ninetales had managed to remove the impact of his instincts on his mind, something that he himself felt like celebrating. That, and it was to explain him going back to talk to her the next night to Sarah, who otherwise would likely panic if he went back the next night to renew that spell.

I was just glad that my friend was both in a better mood and not going insane any longer.

"I know you're awake, lazybones!" Jess exclaimed, grabbing me by the arms and draggng me out of the straw bed.

"Noooo…" I muttered "Let me sleep…"

"Tournament." Jess stated curtly, lifting me up easily (my eyes were still closed) and shaking me back and forth in the air with impressive speed. My eyes were jolted open, and I looked at her disapproving look. And then I noticed how close she was to me.

"If we're called early, we can't afford not to be there." Jess continued, shaking me faster until I could not really focus on her face properly. Which actually made it feel less awkward.

"All right, all right, I'm up." I grumbled, and failed to land on my paws as she set me down and toppled into Jess, causing her to have to catch me and set me upright. There was a light blush on her face, but her serious look told me she wasn't messing around this time.

"Eat your breakfast." Jess ordered. I wearily looked towards the others, who were sitting on the ground with empty bowls in front of them. Mine was still full.

"Gee, thanks, Jess."

"Not a problem. A wake up call could do nicely as well, but you need to be in top condition for the tournament.

Ho boy, did I misinterpret that. That is, until I figured out she meant an electric shock and physical condition. At least, that was what I figured then.

I forgot the heat on my cheek pouches and plodded over to the food, which I practically collapsed on trying to eat.

"Jake, did you talk with your friends all night again?" Jess inquired, arms crossed and ears flicking.

"...Maybe." I admitted, recalling the previous night. That had been interesting, but we ultimately achieved absolutely nothing.

"That's it…" Jess muttered, and walked over and pulled a red berry out of the storage area. I recognized it, and my eyes widened. "If you're not one hundred percent awake when I get to you." Jess muttered, hefting the tamato berry "You **will** be."

Her threat woke me up quicker than the tamato berry could. I scarfed down my food in **seconds** , eliciting giggles from Jess and Shulk together. "Hey, Jess, what is that?" Shulk asked.

 _Oh no…_

I jumped up and bolted with the tamato berry I had taken from Jess and thrust it back into storage. "Trust me, kid. You **don't** want to eat that." I explained, before turning to Jess. "Wasn't it you who said you wanted us to be in good condition?"

Jess scratched the back of her head sheepishly, and I sighed. "All right, let's get over there. I think Caleb went out of his way to gather the group of people we know into one place for socialization purposes, to use a word he would use. We're going to meet over there." I informed them.

"There's gonna be a lot of us…" Swampert muttered. I shrugged, and walked out of our home. Making sure the others were following me, I made my way to the stadium, which next to Daemyn, I lived closest to. Shulk was still complaining about not being able to taste the berry, until Swampert informed him of what it was.

"The rounds will likely grow shorter now." Jess mentioned next to me. "Because the amount of contestants are cut in half every round, just about."

"Which makes it more important to be there early." I agreed. She nodded, and looked at her paws.

"In the heat of battle before… I used more energy than Caleb trained me to. The team wasn't strong, but I don't know what I'm doing yet, apparently. I'm worried that I'll mess up at a bad time…"

"You'll be fine" I assured the pikachu.

She hesitated, before smashing her fists together and creating a small flash of energy outwards. "Yeah." she replied, confidence entering her voice again. I smiled at the girl before I picked up the pace. We made it to the stadium before they started all of the fights, and Jess had to remember where we were going to meet because I certainly hadn't. "How have you survived without me?" Jess asked, waving to the others.

"I haven't a clue how he survived." Swampert put in.

"Mmf…" I muttered, not about to disagree. Not survival as in life or death, but in basic function. How the heck did I get so far without being able to focus on stuff that mattered?

The stadium looked different a bit, today. Apparently someone had gone and edited it a bit with earth power. Maybe as a prank, maybe not, but there were the occasional statue of pokemon, or things engraved in the ground, like some random prankster had decided to make this his personal playground.

Ten minutes after our collective arrival, the stadium was suddenly put back in it's correct appearance by Queen and King again. Ninetales led the way into the stadium. I realized that there were quite a lot of us. Somehow, Caleb had even roped Keron and his team into joining us, though Keron in particular did **not** look happy.

"Who do you think will be called up first?" Shulk wondered.

"I have reason to believe that the selection is entirely random once again." Caleb stated needlessly. He looked even calmer than ever before, his fur shifting in the wind. **Regal**. That word was a good way to describe him.

"In translation, we don't have a clue." Sarah added from directly next to the armored absol.

"...Well put." Caleb nodded reluctantly.

"Let's go find out." Daemyn offered, walking to his spot and sitting down.

* * *

" **NEXT UP IS TEAM THUNDERWAVE VS TEAM SHOCKER!** "

"We're first?" I asked. The first of our group, anyhow. A good twenty battles had gone by by this point.

"It would appear so." Caleb confirmed "Good luck."

I smiled. "Thanks." I replied, before being flashed onto the field. Caleb had instructed us to take as many observations about the opponent as we could. Two magnetons, a blitzle, and a small dedenne on top of said blitzle.

The blitzle looked very uncertain. I was the leader of a team known across the world, after all. A team of electric types could be taken out by a single earthquake, but Swampert would be the only one standing after that.

Reading the magnetons was extremely difficult, and they would need to be handled quickly. The electric group had no type advantage, as Swampert was part ground. His mud shot could wipe out all of them, and given that the fastest one of them was quivering, he probably would not be dodging anything.

"Swampert, you knock out the magnetons." I ordered "Jess, I think you can catch up to the blitzle, and I'll just try to blast everything. Shulk, choose a target and go for it, and try not to be caught in the middle of one of our blasts.

"Got it." my teammates chorused. Last time we fought, it hadn't been very impressive. A team of rock types that we proceeded to swamp with a muddy water attack. So quick and uninteresting, there had been mutters about it.

Amber's team had gotten a similar treatment last round. They had come across a team of two, and they were newbies again. Amber had simply stayed behind while Absol and Magnezone had taken care of the lot of them.

" **BEGIN!** "

I took a defensive stance and started building a massive amount of energy, my scarf increasing the energy around me, while Swampert fired a mud shot at one of the magneton, which promptly fainted. Shulk was uncertain of what to do right now, and so chased after Jess, who was after the blitzle and dedenne.

The dedenne was firing attacks while the blitzle was bosy running, so that they could increase the potential for their aim and speed alike.

Fortunately for us, Jess was **awesome**.

The pikachu, her paws shining brightly, put those paws behind her and released a flash of energy behind her and downwards. This propelled her over the electric attack incoming, sending the girl flying right for the blitzle's face.

Though Blitzle managed to avoid being punched in the face, he was essentially retreating. Shulk was the one to intercept, aiming a quick strike for the pokemon. Shulk got badly zapped for his trouble, and promptly run over.

I saw an opening, and I released as much voltage as I could, which was a **lot**. The massive bolt erupted from my position and zapped the two electric types with as much power as I could muster. They were only a little cooked, which tends to be all that you get when you treat electric types to electric moves.

But it was Jess that had them after that. I saw the whites of their eyes from my own position as she sprinted forward, and put her paws behind her. A flash, and she was flying towards the enemy.

"Yaaahhh!" she gave her battle cry, and with that impressive aerial speed, punched the blitzle right in the mouth, sending him flying and disengaging the dedenne. With the tiny electric type dazed from the fall, she used the rest her momentum and the power of gravity to punch him, sending out just enough energy to put the pokemon in a crater, unconscious. Propelled again by the energy released, she did a flip and landed perfectly. I wanted to pick up a sign with a '10' on it, but alas, I had no such item on me.

Swampert, no longer having any targets, finished the fight by using a mud shot on the blitzle, who was trying to get up. That made for a relatively easy victory again.

"You okay, Shulk?" I asked, and the riolu sat up, grinning like a maniac. Yeah, he was fine. He looked surprisingly excited about being run over. I guess the battle was simply fun for him. Whether he was fine or not, he would be once the healing team got to him.

"Impressive fight." Ninetales complimented me.

"That was a lot of electricity." Blutarch noted "That would one-shot most if not all water types."

"Uh… Thanks, guys." I stammered, rubbing the back of my head.

"Aww, he's blushing." Jess teased, pinching my cheek for a moment before sitting back in her seat.

"If that was an attempt to **stop** the blush." Caleb noted "You failed."

I tuned out.

 **Caleb's POV**

Jake seemed not to be interested in conversation any longer. Jess teased him a few times about that, and I had reason to believe that they were going to do well as a team if they became that close. They had already done very well. I would have to really watch out for Jess' little boosting trick she had, because with the speed she attained with blasting energy behind her, I hadn't a hope of dodging.

Then, I realized that how Sarah and I did was irrelevant. Team Thunderwave had no way to harm Shedinja. Thus, the match would be cut and dried for us. In certain situations, I could not afford to let down my guard, but could result in a guaranteed victory if done correctly.

Sometimes, you just need a guaranteed **something** in your life. On the other hand, I considered Jake a friend. If he was to be defeated in battle, I would hope that I was not the cause.

I grew distracted from the pitiful power struggle that could barely be described as a proper battle and thought back on some of my memories for a while. Amaterasu had understood that the damage had been fixed, and let me off while I was in the clear. I expressed my extreme disappointment that she did not at least try to think of a less harmful way to get me to control my emotions when it did little more than drive me to insanity faster, and Amaterasu admitted that she was not willing to dump the little plan she had devised when she had later known it caused more harm than good.

I advised her against being so stubborn next time.

Of course, that left everyone else to talk to like I normally would and to feel like myself again. Riley became very supportive very quickly. I remember last night, the second night of being sane again… I remembered it very fondly.

* * *

"Well well." I said, flipping open the door to the closet to find where my child version had hidden himself today. My control of the dream had grown ever more solid. I smiled as the kid squealed and tried to get past me, only for me to catch him by the scruff in my teeth.

Strangely, I was feeling extremely good. Before the effect of the instincts on my mind truly began, I had been somewhat resentful of this form, and not used to it. With the relief of having my mind back came a sense of acceptance, I suppose.

"Hey!" my child form complained as he squirmed in my grasp. I chuckled through his fur and dropped the kid to the carpet, and let him bat at my chest fur playfully. I continued to play with him, inadvertently coaxing Sarah's child form out from her hiding spot, which was incidentally the hiding spot she chose five nights ago. Back when I was not sane.

"I want in!" Child Sarah exclaimed as she pounced on me and tried to knock me down with her lesser weight. Nevertheless, I let them 'knock' me over onto the carpet.

"Got you!" they exclaimed as they pinned me down on either side. Chuckling, I set my paws against their faces and casually pushed them off.

"Do you now?" I asked teasingly, and they gave little growls as they started tugging at me. Pulling at my fur ant legs as excited children would do a parent if they are looking to roughhouse.

"Alright, you two." Riley appeared and picked the two up. "Victimizing Caleb again?" he asked teasingly. He knew they were just playing, of course.

"Aw, c'mon, Riley!" Child Me complained "We're just playing!"

"Yeah!"

"Aren't you two just adorable." Riley replied, crushing them in a hug before making as if to toss them at me, making them freak out before laughing as Riley rested his arms again and set them down.

I chuckled along with Riley. "Let us take this outside before anything gets damaged." I suggested.

"...Can't you just repair any damage?" Sarah's child form asked. I nodded, but I herded the riled up children outside anyways.

"I most certainly could, but how are you going to play with Sheila or Amaterasu inside? Neither go into the building for different reasons. You know Amaterasu prefers to rest near her mirror-"

I was interrupted by Amaterasu herself walking up behind me, making only the sound of her paws shifting the grass around the building. I had actually caught her with my absol sense. The female gave me a much needed wider berth as she came into view of the children.

"Ammy!" they exclaimed, running to greet the wolf. Amaterasu attempted to keep the smile off of her face. She only liked it when these two called her that, and was neutral about me calling her that.

"Before you go tackling me and having your fun…" Amaterasu interrupted, before turning to me. "I believe I owe you an apology. You had consistently reminded me of how my stubbornness was only making the problem more difficult to handle, but I did not appreciate the gravity of the effect on you, and did not work towards another solution. My confusion at your refusal to punish me in any way for harming you does precede most other emotions, however."

I gave a soft smile. "I have to learn to tolerate things that I can't understand, such as the psyche of those around me nowadays, growing more and more unpredictable. Furthermore, I believe you can learn from your mistakes without punishment. That being said…"

I had an idea for the **perfect** punishment, that could only test her patience more than anything. That patience would serve her, and myself by extension, very well. "That being said, I do have an idea." I revealed "Kids, Amaterasu has just volunteered to entertain you… for the entire day."

Riley burst out laughing and cleared out extremely quickly before I added him to that for laughing at me, which I would not have done, but whatever. I turned back to Amaterasu, seeing her adopt a pleading look that was **very** unlike her, but the situation was irreversible. I have never seen the puppy eyes applied by this girl, but in the face of what I was leaving her to, she was **not** going to last an entire day without going a bit mad herself. That made me feel bad about the 'punishment', but really, it barely qualified.

That, and playing was actually involved. I walked off, feeling content that I had not done much damage as the kids finally got a move on and started dragging Amaterasu in the opposite direction. I went back into the house rather casually.

* * *

You would think I got some rest. No, that is not quite how I do things. I wrote down the battle strategies I saw in the tournament thus far in detail in a large book and calculated ways to deal with it. I got a lot of work done, including adding a way for the others in the dream to contact me directly, if it worked. I had a large book already filled with dozens of strategies specifically to combat a certain strategy I saw. I would continue that process tonight and further.

I smiled softly. Yes, I had been very productive. I remembered checking up on Amaterasu before I woke up, seeing her with the kids literally sleeping on top of her, lying on the ground with comical swirls for eyes. She was out cold. The kids can really drain somebody, I would have to give them that.

I was brought back to reality as team Amber was called up after a few uninteresting matches. Their opponents looked extremely tough, and varied. A large somewhat frog-like pokemon with a belt of sorts, looking very muscular, a pig-like creature with steam coming from his nostrils as he snorted. Both of those seemed to be bipeds, however. After them was what looked to be a luxio, and in front of the lot was a grey pokemon I did not recognize.

"What are the species of the pokemon against team Amber?" I asked as said team was flashed onto the field.

"Poliwrath, pignite, luxio, and rhydon." Sarah supplied. I watched the lot of them look at the groups before us, and I had to admit that both teams looked to be able to contest each other very well.

" **BEGIN!** "

Absol had been speaking with his teammates, likely discussing strategies much as I would have done. Now, Absol darted to the right of their group while Magnezone stayed above them. The other team was positioning themselves; they were putting together their own strategy.

Absol and magnezone protected the entire group from the poliwrath and the pignite with psycho cuts and thunderbolts, while Charizard had to grapple with the rhydon. Amber hesitantly faced the luxio, which was circling her. Amber kept her face towards the opponent. The poor girl looked very fearful.

And then lightning lit up the world. Me eyes widened, thinking that when that light faded and I could see again, Amber would be severely damaged, if not unconscious. I know pokemon can handle lightning unlike humans, but with that kind of power…

I blinked the spots out of my eyes and focused. A glow faded around Amber, who looked… Perfectly fine. My eyes narrowed. How had she escaped the attack without moving? Had the lightning actually struck her at all?

My suspicions that she had indeed been struck were confirmed by the stunned expression on Luxio's face. People around the stands fell into silence in awe at the apparent invulnerability of the eevee, but I was not fooled.

 _She did something. I saw how she braced herself before the impact. She is hiding something._

The luxio began unloading thousands of volts into Amber, creating a light too bright to see through, and still accomplished nothing. Amber seemed perfectly fine. Furthermore, she seemed more confident as well.  
I watched her jump in front of the stunned luxio, and swing her tail at him. The metallic sheen that glimmered into place reflected the sun as Luxio went sailing across the arena. From a single strike, Amber had done so much damage, that he was rubbing his face before wobbling a bit where he now stood.

"Steel type moves do much less damage to electric types…" Shino supplied two rows down from me "But he's nearly down for the count." This information told me that Amber was potentially the strongest person on her own team, despite her normal fearful attitude and her tendency to stay out of a fight…

I should have known that already after what happened to Daemyn the day we began training with them. He hadn't even seen the strike, and was out immediately. I wanted to know how she was sustaining no damage from these brutal lightning strikes, and focused solely on her.

"Oh no…" Sarah murmured. I was distracted from Amber trying to remain out of the battle to see that Magnezone had been downed by the pignite, who somehow managed to twist away from the psycho cut blade that followed. The electric type wobbled in the air, and could not evade the boulder thrown at him, which sent him plowing into the dirt a ways away, unconscious.

Poliwrath was suitably freer to do as he wished, which included aiding Rhydon in attacking Charizard, putting the fire type at a massive disadvantage despite his superior physical strength. Amber's eyes widened as she saw him begin to be overwhelmed, and rushed to help her teammate and friend.

The little girl leaped up to Charizard's shoulder and smacked the rhydon away with her iron tail, defeating her opponent with ease. The amount of power packed behind that strike had practically defied physics, and this time, Rhydon was weak to the attack.

This, unfortunately, left Charizard wide open to his next attack, and the hydro pump and a stray lightning attack focused on him while Amber landed below the rushing attacks.

Struck by two super effective attacks at once, Charizard was downed. Amber stared in horror at her unconscious friend, the one whose presence gave her more confidence than normal. Now Amber was facing a group of enemies, and Absol was struggling against the pignite, who was astonishingly nimble, and scored more punches than Absol could handle.

Amber's path was blocked from Absol by the poliwrath, as Absol could only make the effort to avoid both lightning, fire and physical strikes. While Amber tried to get past the poliwrath, using that iron tail again, the larger fighting type dodged very well and always stayed between Amber and Absol.

Absol could only last so long before he tired and made a mistake. After ten minutes of excellent strategy on the parts of the opponent, Absol was struck too many times and fell over, unable to continue. This left Amber in the middle of a group of three large powerful pokemon.

"Oh no…" Sarah murmured. "She's in trouble."

I saw something in the girl's eye. Amber was still, no longer trembling. She had to be absolutely terrified, but I believed that she was willing to win it all for her teammates, and no matter how many pokemon were against her, that strength accompanied by that strange trick of not being struck when she should be… "No." I finally responded, catching the attention of everyone. "She is not in trouble."

Amber did back up a few steps, before seeming to force herself to stay still. I understood that this must have been difficult for the girl, and was impressed that she would stand anyways. She could do this, that much I knew.

She looked to the luxio, and initiated the battle. Rearing up, she generated a massive shadow ball in less than a second, filled with far more volatile energy than Sarah's or Daemyn's. Speaking of the two of them, it was generated almost as fast as Daemyn's and was larger than Sarah's. Amber thrust it at her opponent, the sphere visibly spinning rapidly.

The two fighting types darted to protect the luxio, barely making it in time for the shadow ball to strike and explode so violently, it created a mushroom cloud. I feared that the entire team had just been taken down, but they were fine.

"Explain that." I ordered. I was not speaking to anyone in particular, of course, but I did want an answer. Sarah, ever helpful, supplied that answer.

"Ghost type attacks don't affect fighting types or normal types, and vice versa."

I nodded, understanding. "Thank you, Sarah." I replied, and though I was looking at the field where Amber was easily avoiding the enemy with her quick attack; her training with Erza must have helped her quite a bit with maneuverability, I detected Sarah with my absol sense, seeing the absol have some sort of reaction at being praised.

I feared that she was getting worse again, if she was reacting as such. If she continued to be more overbearing again, I would have to exercise the same patience I always have. I could manage that for a while. I believed I could manage that for a long time. However… I did wish that at some point Sarah would calm herself.

It was a pity, really. Plenty of her traits I would be fine with. She could easily be a good friend… if she was less overbearing.

"That shadow ball was astonishingly powerful." Erza commented "And she's having no trouble avoiding all three opponents… Scratch that, she's surrounded again."

She was. We all waited tensely, before the pignite enveloped her with a large flamethrower. The heat was intense, and Amber was completely hidden within the flame. The majority of the people in the crowd were certain that she had been defeated, but I knew better.

The flames died out, and I watched very closely. There was a brighter flash just as the flames petered out, revealing Amber, unharmed again.

"She is doing something specific." I decided aloud "Something is giving her the ability to take no damage from these attacks."

"What?" Jake asked.

"I do not know as of now." I admitted as Amber then endured a lightning strike with no damage again. The poliwrath generated a hydro pump and attacked yet again. Amber disappeared in the fast moving water, and when that water faded away, amber was **much** closer to Poliwrath face. She whirled, her tail now glowing a flickering red and white, crashing into the water type and sending him flying extremely far.

 _What kind of power does that require!? She smashed him against the wall they were furthest from, more than halfway across the arena!_

"Damn." Gauge muttered from where he sat "I don't want to be on the receiving end of **that**." he continued. I had to agree wholeheartedly. Whatever she was capable of, I would have to take notes.

Because if we kept winning, we would eventually come across them. If I could not find out how to deal with Amber then, we were doomed to fail. Shedinja would stand no chance against any but magnezone, and his attacks would likely only annoy the steel type. Furthermore, their team had one more than mine did.

The chances were certainly stacked against us if we intended to continue. By this point, the other two on the opposing team knew that they could not do anything against Amber, and began to panic and launch as much fire and lightning as they could.

Amber disappeared under the mixed onslaught, and there was an impressive explosion that almost, **almost** matched the power of Amber's shadow ball. The smoke cleared to reveal absolutely nothing but dirt, thrown up by the attack. I blinked.

"Amber seems to know the 'dig' technique." Ninetales supplied, as Amber exploded out of the ground underneath the pignite and sending him flying high into the sky. I meant **high**. He was a speck in the sky for a while before he started falling towards the ground again, to land near the now unconscious luxio, who had taken a simple headbutt to the face.

It was at this point that most pokemon in the stadium realized that they hadn't a chance of victory with Amber around. I would be spending days on end deciding on a strategy to defeat her in particular. Amber was flashed out of the field while the pokemon populating the stadium either exploded into cheers or worried conversation about their own chances if they were still in the running.

"Amber needs us to be supportive." I proclaimed before their team was brought back. "Congratulate her, and do not speak of your own chances. The girl is probably worried about our reactions."

"Good advice." Ninetales complimented.

"That's Caleb for you." Sarah added, moving in to make physical contact **again**. The girl was face first in the dirt when Amber and her team got back. I was not going to let her just be all over me during a time like this, or any time for that matter. I had no interest in the girl.

Amber, as I predicted, looked extremely uncomfortable, and asked nearly immediately if she had overdone it. I was the first to dissuade her from that idea. "You did a great job." I soothed her "There is nothing wrong."

 _With the exception of my not knowing what kept her safe during those attacks, but that is not her problem to bear. In fact, her ability to hide something from me in the middle of battle would have taken stellar timing and great skill, and she did it with ease. I can admire that ability. Frightened as I am by the sheer power she showed._

"That was incredible." Jake added, as Shulk gave the girl a thumbs up. Her own teammates congratulated her, as did the entire group. Ninetales pitched in with her own congratulations at the end; her timing was evidently calculated to provide the most weight, as she did qualify as a guildmaster, technically a queen, and her congratulations and assurances would likely reassure the eevee the most.

She was smiling by the time we finished talking, and her teammates snuck us looks of gratitude. "Th-thank you, everyone…" she murmured, and returned to her spot. The others nodded to me, likely glad that I had said something. Having avoided the topic of her sheer power entirely, they avoided making her uncomfortable. They knew I had pulled them out of that.

More matches were called. I wondered how many of us would last this round. Erza and Daemyn blazed through their battles, Erza finding a weaker team yet again and Daemyn just finding a group that was wasted away by Bastiodon's flash cannon and Daemyn's shadow ball. Machoke did not even get to be involved.

Team Eternal Flame found some difficulty, but Vulnona pulled through with a few curses and some careful and swift twirling techniques that kept her out of the range of the water type.

Gauge was lucky. The guy got a one on one battle, and was constantly able to avoid the powerful yet reckless attacks of his opponent, and despite his disadvantage against the grass type, managed to win.

The real competition came when Space was called up, and was face to face to Gallade, the one I had met days ago. From his arm hung a green stone, much like the one on my armor. I did not understand the purpose of wearing it in combat, however.

"Space works at the library in my region." Ninetales supplied me with more information "I meet him quite often as a result. He is a good friend, and does have many skills in combat."

"I will have to visit that library." I responded, peering at the two pokemon. It was difficult for me to tell them apart without the jewelry that Gallade wore. Their expressions actually helped me a lot. Space looked serious, while Gallade looked…

That expression was unnerving. I don't know what I saw for a moment, and it was soon gone, but for a moment, that cheerful yet determined look had appeared **very** different. I was not foolish enough to believe that I had imagined it, but I had not had the time to discern its meaning.

Both had generated pink blades at their extended elbows before the announcer told them to begin, using a physical method of the attack psycho cut. I wondered if I could do something similar, and resolved to try it at some point. It could save me when confronted with a physical fighting type attack.

" **BEGIN!** "

Both opponents shot forward instantly and met in the middle, clashing with violent lights and pink blades of energy being released in all directions as both opponents spent extreme amounts of energy very quickly, neither giving their opponent an inch.

I was not able to track the speed of the strikes, which was very unfortunate unless I could manage it. I needed to analyze their patterns, and if I couldn't… Then I would not be prepared to deal with this when it came along.

I focused as hard as I could on the movements each took. It was easier to analyze their body positions and changes in that regard than it was to track their arms. A shift left was followed by energy erupting from the strike on the right, from deflecting energy. I slowly began piecing together Gallade's actions from the results of each strike. He was slightly more unpredictable than Space, causing his opponent to be more often on defence than offence.

After two minutes of sheer pummeling from both sides, both jumped back simultaneously and unleashed large psycho cuts at each other, the beamlike blades erupting forward and clashing in the center of the arena, bending around as they struck each other and seeming to coalesce into a tiny, shining point of energy that eventually reacted with itself, exploding outward and filling the area with smoke and dust.

The combatants charged into the mess, and my absol sense did not have that sort of range with my mental map. Maybe someday I could manage that, but I could only guess at what was happening from the psycho cuts that sailed from the cloud and thankfully dissipated before reaching the audience due to some sort of magical protection.

Through smoke and flashes of pink, I was only able to discern that the battle still offered no advantage. How long would it be until one of them gained an advantage that would end the battle? "You seem very invested in this battle." Ninetales noted.

"I was finding it difficult to discern their fighting styles." I responded by way of explanation. I received a nod before we focused on the battle once more.

After a few minutes, the dust settled, and both gallades leapt away to halt and stare each other down. I saw that Space was panting while Gallade… was not. I supposed that endurance would be the end of this fight, but Gallade's state surprised me even more than Amber's had, because after Amber's display of sheer power, I could believe that she could also take attacks like that. Well, that accompanied by whatever trick she was pulling to sustain no damage from an attack. Gallade… Had no visible trick to have pulled all of that off with no effort whatsoever.

Perhaps the stone he had prevented him from using too much energy? If that was so, then why did mine not work the same? Perhaps they truly were different objects after all, at least if that was the function of his.

Gallade started to gloat about his evident victory, which would happen very soon. Not exactly sportsmanlike, but I had seen that plenty of times already during this tournament. Space got up, not appearing happy at all. He squared off against Gallade again, generating slash attacks next. His slash attack looked like glowing double edged swords, the hilts included,glowing around the extensions from his elbows.

Gallade kept his scythe-like psycho cut blades around, seeming confident. While the slash attack would do more damage to the opponent due to the type difference, the psycho cut likely had more power due to being the same type as Gallade. Clashing together, the strikes would not be even, neither would they be even striking their opponent.

I concluded that Space was attempting to strike in a way that he would be hit, but Gallade would be as well. It might turn the battle towards his favor if he was not hit too badly. Risk versus reward. Despite my dislike for such a strategy like that, in fact I would hesitate to call it strategy momentarily, I could admit here that I did not see much of an other option between the two of them.

Gallade bantered often as they began clashing, Gallade casually knocking away the strikes of Space's slash attacks. He was being humorous in the thick of battle; I found myself conflicted as to how to consider the fighting type. Some of his traits seemed likable, but could possibly be forced, and other aspects of the male were not likable traits whatsoever.

On other words, he was a social enigma, and I knew I had to learn more about him. His presence began to worry me. "Are you detecting his conflicting traits?" I asked.

"I am." Ninetales agreed.

"He worries me for some reason…" Sarah murmured. I looked at the girl, meeting her eyes. My eyes had the tendency to bring a smile to her face, being hopelessly infatuated with me as she was. I looked back down to the field, preparing my paw to smack her into the dirt again if I had to.

It turns out that I did have to.

Space backed off again, evidently uncertain of the correct action to take. I saw no appropriate way of taking on the challenge before him; He did not have any edge here. I frowned at the sight. The blades that both opponents wielded glowed strong. This battle would be very long.

Unless, of course, Space took the motion he had. Knowing that he could not be victorious in the way he was, he built up a large amount of energy around his body, glowing brilliantly, before vanishing and reappearing behind Gallade, ready to strike.

Unfortunately, Gallade had seen this action even if I myself had not. Space was instantly struck by regular slash attacks of Gallade's own, on both sides, seriously damaging him. In fact, so much damage had been dealt that Gallade lost some blood from his shoulder and waist. Just a small amount, but it was enough to elicit gasps from the people watching. Gallade followed up with some brutal looking strikes, leading to Space lying unconscious upon the ground.

"That is not what I expected." Ninetales murmured "Space is strong and fast. For Gallade to defeat him easily, I believe that Gallade could easily prove to be a challenging opponent."

"I get the sense that Gallade held back." I responded quietly as the two of them were flashed out of the arena to be healed, though Gallade did not need it "However, I have the sense that team Amber can defeat him at least, and that our team could as well with Shedinja in tow. That is a pure guess; I cannot make such assumptions. He could easily be able to use fire in some way."

Ninetales took steps to inform her friend that he had done as well as he could while I turned my attention back to the field.

Eventually, I had to make a note. "The most difficult thing to apply in my strategies are the numerous ways that attacks can be used." I commented "For example, the solarbeam attack. Sage uses a conical beam that does not explode, but effectively cooks the opponent, while Ninetales uses an explosive beam that she gan aim in any direction from over her head. so many attacks have creative ways that they can be manipulated. The most unique uses for an attack I have seen so far belong to the shadow ball technique."

"You can manage it." Sarah reassured me almost instantly. I had been talking mostly to myself of course. Nevertheless, I received a dozen of the same messages while Sarah looked at me with legitimate longing in her eyes.

After this tournament, diagnosing her abnormal attachment to me was going to be number one on my list of things to do. I had attributed her initial attachment to me to be loneliness as a result of being kind of an outcast, but this was ridiculous.

By the time we were called, most of the others had won their battles. We stood against a massive bipedal pig-like pokemon, identified as an emboar, the evolution of the pignite that Amber had taken down. He was very large, and could contend with all of us with his massively inconvenient fire and fighting type mix. Inconvenient for us, that is.

"Ho ho ho!" he exclaimed "This will be easy!"

"Shedinja, keep your distance and pelt him with as many attacks as you can. He won't be hurt by it, but it will distract him. Sarah, do the exact same, but use water pulse over and over. You will be doing the real damage while I stay away and use psycho cut from a distance again. If he advances towards you, stay away at all costs."

Sarah's expression told me that **she** wanted to be the person I was up close and personal with, but she nodded and prepared to leap away.

" **BEGIN!** "

The battle was easy. Emboar's fire attacks had a wide but understandably mediocre range, being used to being up close and personal with his opponent. With my swords dance, I pelted him with explosive psycho cuts that blasted him back repeatedly. Accompanied by shedinja's shadow balls providing a sort of smoke cover that Emboar could not see out of, and Sarah's water attacks, the massive overconfident pig collapsed and fell unconscious.

Being declared the winner brought little satisfaction, and only for my ability to think quickly and come up with a plan that was not suicide.

Ninetales fought a good battle. The girl did not have to move at all once again, proceeding to knock out the team of two fast pokemon with the nearly instantaneous hyper beams, after utilizing a solarbeam that she split into small parts to chase them off and give her enough time to recover from generaing the hyper beams and putting them on her tails. Once she got the quicker beams available, she made short work of the small enemies.

I suspected that the luck our group was having was going to start running out. Some of our group was fighting singularly, which could only be difficult later on. Having a team of powerful enemies against you would put you at an incredible disadvantage to you, no matter how strong you were. Even Alger had managed to be victorious, protecting himself and running away from his slower and bigger opponents while the both of his opponents were badly poisoned.

Shade faced a team of three pokemon of a medium rank, and fooled them with illusions once more. I took careful note of the physical imprints some of the illusions left on the ground that persisted after the illusions faded; evidently they were more than typical illusions. The occasional random footprints told me that she was capable of creating physical things in place of illusions.

I could not discern what were illusions and what was real just yet. That would take time. I hoped I would find out before we were set in front of her.

But that round ended in one day. By their regulations, teams were given a full day of rest between rounds, so each round we successfully got through, we would have more time to devise strategies against our remaining opponents. I liked this system a lot. How it worked out for me: As the teams we were to face diminished slowly, the time I had to create advanced strategies for those specific opponents increased.

"After this, our battles will be much more strenuous." Blutarch warned. Keron snorted in disdain, apparently confident in himself. Conversation began to erupt around the others, giving me pause as I realized just how large and close this group had become.

"Goldeneye." I greeted the delphox who approached me. I happened to be with Ninetales, Daemyn, and Sarah at the moment, while Shedinja was talking to random people who were not paying attention to be included in conversations as their subconsciouses translated that single word into topics and words.

"Hello, Caleb. Are you well?" Goldeneye inquired.

I nodded. "Very much so. I see you are all finally becoming acquainted with each other, having been introduced as a group." I commented.

"Skyfall was quite interested to meet the others, though I worry about him being too friendly with that Keron fellow. He seems volatile." Goldeneye noted, looking towards where her son was chatting with that particular group.

"I may agree, but Keron deserves a chance. His family seems to be just fine with being around us, and his adopted son certainly seems to idolize me, though he does not speak with me often."

"That would likely be due to your origin."

"I do not wish to be famous. Particularly not for that reason."

"I understand, as you have given me details about the last time I spent all night doing a project for you, though I see you have used the project."

"I did my best not to be too harsh." I agreed "I did not want you to cause yourself trouble for my sake. There is something however, that I found was needed, if you are so willing to help, that involves quite a bit of magic."

Goldeneye was immediately interested. "What do you need?"

"I will explain it to you." I began "My instincts were causing me several mental conflicts and problems that caused me to act in ways I never would, and I did not wish to be affected as such, or driven insane, by that confliction. Ninetales has been helping me with this, but she suggested a different method."

"A way to seal your instincts away permanently?" Goldeneye clarified.

"Yes." I nodded "I want to clear a few things up. You are **not** to spend all night working on this. I am aware that it could take months with a schedule such as I am about to provide. I forbid you to spend more than four hours a day on this project if you take it on, so that you might be able to do other things, such as be involved in the tournament, sleep, and spend time with your family. I absolutely forbid you to throw away more energy than you reasonably should for my sake. If Ninetales must leave, and the project is not completed, then I will go without the effect that temporarily removes them, even sacrificing some of my sanity again, to assure that you get the rest that you require."

As I laid down the law for Goldeneye, Goldfinger stepped up to listen in. He was nodding to me discreetly. He likely knew how much his mate loved magical projects, involving spells or runes. He also likely appreciated my attempt to keep Goldeneye being involved with her family. She had likely had less to do before I came around with so many interesting things to do.

"...Very well." Goldeneye agreed, evidently (thankfully) seeing the sense in my words. She nodded. "I shall only put four hours maximum into my daily efforts on this spell to permanently seal away your instincts. You do seem much better off without them."

"Thank you, Goldeneye, for everything. I also wished to thank you again for the chess set. It is truly impressive, though Ninetales was the only one to be able to contest me in the game."

"He defeated me with ease." Ninetales refuted "I suppose I simply provided more of a challenge."

"You had me on edge at least twice." I refuted right back. My absol sense detected Sarah sulking right behind me. Now that I thought about it, she might be fearing me growing attached to someone who understood more. This was a silly notion; for one, I was not the type to be emotionally attached to anyone in **that** way, and second, Sarah has proven time and time again to be quite smart when she wishes to be. Her ability to devise strategies could be on par with mine if she really put some effort into it. "If you, or anyone for that matter, wishes to learn, I would be happy to teach you."

My emphasis on the word 'anyone', as I planned, brought Sarah back to a good mood. The red absol rebounded immediately, as I slipped the board from my back and set it down. I automatically flipped open the seal and let it fall open to the ground again.

I supposed it was a good time to play.

* * *

"One of the most important parts of playing chess properly is to formulate your offence into as good of a defence as you can manage it." I reminded Sarah as she took a piece; I was going easy on her, but only in the sense of offence. "For example, your knight is entirely unprotected at this time. You took a pawn, but would lose that piece right away. While pawns are considered expendable in the game, you should always make the effort to protect your more powerful pieces unless the end result will provide a equal or better trade, **and** will provide an opening in the future. Let us roll this back."

The board obeyed my command and reset her knight and the pawn I had lost. "What would be a more appropriate move to make that can lead up to more important things later down the line?"

As I tested the girl, I watched her eyes. She continued to get distracted by my presence, but if I could get her to focus as I was trying to do, then I knew she had the mental fortitude to lock this down. "Uhh… if I put this pawn in the way, it tempts you to take it, so that I could take it with the knight, which then puts my knight in a good spot?" Sarah guessed.

"Yes. That point is a safe square for your knight, at least at the moment. It forces me to move differently to achieve my goal, which could take more moves. My other option is to simply threaten it, which also wastes my time and allows you to keep this piece in particular moving about as I try to trap it. The downside is that if the placement is correct, and I get lucky, if I keep attacking the knight, I will have plenty of pawns on the board in opportune places that I could use against you later."

Sarah looked confused, but she nodded. She knew this was basically training. The people who had stuck around, which was most of the pokemon I knew, watched as I intentionally made a mistake. Even Keron had (reluctantly) stuck around because his adoptive son was really interested in this game.

"I have made an error, Sarah. With the placement of your knight, how can you take advantage of the situation?" I inquired. My teammate stared at the board for a few solid minutes.

"Sorry it's taking me a while…" Sarah murmured, looking guilty.

"Don't." I warned. "You can take as much time as you like. There is no time limit on this game, and were I to close this board, it would save the positioning, as I learned through some experimentation."

"Okay." Sarah nodded "Well… you moved that bishop out of the way, on purpose, and what that bishop had in it's range that I can move to is right **here**."

The girl put her knight in the spot that no skilled chess player would ever leave open. I smiled, and she brightened upon seeing that. "Nicely done, Sarah." I complimented the absol "When your opponent vacates an area with his piece, what do you look at first and second?"

She looked at my bishop. "Uh…" she muttered "I looked at what the bishop was protecting before it left, to find a potential opening.

I nodded "That is the second thing you must check. The first is where that piece is right **now**." I reminded the girl "if there is a danger, that must be addressed before all others. My move did not threaten anything of course; but if you take advantage of an opening when I have given myself a greater opening, you could be in danger. That being said, you made the correct move, pinning my king and my rook, and forcing me to move my king, and lose that rook. If you threaten the king, you must remember to say 'check', though the piece flashes red, so I couldn't miss it anyhow."

I moved my king piece, the one that looked like me, and Sarah's next move she obviously took the rook. Seeing the miniature Erza take out Shedinja with the leafy flail was incorrect on a fundamental level, but there had to be some degree of leniency. The image of Shedinja fell and slammed into the surface of the board, before fading away.

I quickly moved a piece, trapping the knight but not threatening it. "What should you do here?"

"Leave it and maybe make an offence in that direction?" Sarah guessed.

"You had best be quick about that." I warned, placing the bishop I had moved before to directly threaten Sarah's knight. It could not take anything before it was destroyed.

Sarah froze. She gave an 'uhhh…' and stared at the board. She did not know how to proceed. I wanted her to ask a question, which I would answer freely. One thing I respected about the girl was that she was willing to ask a question if she did not understand. "What am I supposed to do here?"

"Simply put, you cannot." I revealed, startling her "When you pull a trick that results in my loss of a valuable piece, I will react by guaranteeing that I can take the knight if I can. You will lose the piece, as you cannot attack any piece that would threaten the knight. The rook is considered a more valuable piece in the game than a knight, meaning that this is merely a measure to avoid you having that piece free to move around on my side of the board. You came out of this mix with a victory."

We continued to play, me giving her enough tips that she could learn how to handle many things, and then I instructed her to design her own strategies rather than use my own, due to the fact that I would recognize my own strategy and know how to defeat it. We played a real game, and though I won once more, Sarah had nearly surprised me several times. I told her that practice would improve her skills over time, placating the girl, who seemed sad that she was not meeting expectations that did not exist.

When I simply informed her that there were no such expectations, she brightened and thanked me a bunch for being willing to help her, and tried to steal a kiss again. Typical. My reaction of planting her face into the dirt extended to my chess board this time, and the pieces actually were flung away from the impact like real pieces.

I cleared the board after letting the girl go. I spent the next several hours teaching the people around me how to play chess properly, and to be honest, I had a great time. I would make a great teacher. The games lasted until it was about time that we would be in the cafe.

* * *

"I have something very special for all of you today." I revealed, taking to the stage once more. I did not intend to stand there and talk, and lessons tended to put people to sleep. For that reason, I had tested a few things, and it seems that this wall was complex enough to fill in the blanks in my memory about a certain thing, and I could set up what I was about to without so much difficulty.

For which I was glad. I could talk with my friends while everyone was occupied watching this.

Before the clamoring could grow out of hand, I continued. "I will be setting something up to play here, to show while I do something else. It is longer than an hour, as a start. I believe that I will be taking this action each night if you all enjoy, and it will allow me to rest."

I then promptly started up a movie. I had to do it eventually, and choosing a good movie was important for a first impression on the concept. I chose a movie that had implications that adults would understand as dangerous or important, yet still be kid friendly.

I always enjoyed the live-action Speed Racer movie, ever since I was a kid. The design choices and the plot design… It was complicated and had some satirical elements regarding big businesses, and it generally was enjoyable to watch either as a formal adult or a naive child. It should work perfectly.

"Before it starts up, I have a question that I should have asked long before." I stated when I approached Amber.

"Uh… Yes?" Amber asked, looking uncomfortable. I suppose I had not approached so cautiously.

 _My apolog-_

 **CLANG!**

"...Are you serious?" I asked simply through the dirt in my face. "Since when are you a mind reader?"

"I don't have to be." Erza replied, before going back to rejoin the conversation she was having with the now sweatdropping group.

"...At any rate, I wanted to know what attack you used in your battle, Amber. The attack where your tail glowed crimson and white."

Amber looked at her tail, as if expecting to see it still glowing. "Oh. That." she muttered "It's called Return. It grows stronger if I am thinking about my friends, and depending on who I am thinking about, it grows more or less powerful."

"That is an intriguing technique." I responded truthfully "I shall have to pay attention to the technique, perhaps. If Sarah were to learn to use it, her lack of physical strength would be practically irrelevant in the face of the move."

"Maybe, but I needed a technical machine to learn it." Amber warned me helpfully.

I nodded. "I understand. Why don't you enjoy the movie then? You might feel that you recognize it, if you have watched it, wherever you might have been from the human world."

That seemed to brighten her day as she turned to the screen. Charizard loomed over me, but the fire dragon was smiling. I had helped her somewhat, I knew that much. She was more comfortable talking to me, and had started becoming a lot more confident around some others, though if her reaction to them made her personality inherently shy to a certain person, she would always be shy.

I had never heard of a situation such as Amber's; her personality being something different for each person she met, the change in her personality being practically instantaneous, and not wavering… She was an enigma, one I was beginning to believe I could never unravel. I could still make her feel welcome in this group, and help her be happier.

She did seem to actually become rather chatty towards Keron of all people, a strange reaction to be sure, and Keron was not the most appreciative. Towards Ninetales, she seemed to be rather calm, but very easily startled, and so on.

Some of us met with similar reactions from her as others, such as the neutral reaction she gave me also applying to Vulnona, Shino, Shade, and Gauge. For example.

It was not five minutes before most people were invested in the movie. It was bright and colorful, and I had made certain to put a personal touch on the recording-esk show that the movie does not reflect the real human world, at least not very much. Hopefully there would be no assumptions.

The satirical elements of the story regarding businesses however, was not incorrect during its time. One could argue that it is still correct today. I suppose I wouldn't have to deal with it any longer. The big businesses were painted as the antagonist, which should deter anyone from taking that role in this world. I would take steps to ensure that such a thing never happens, of course.

This world was better off innocent with a simplified economics system that was more about preparing people for the journey than actually making money. I liked this; the currency was barely necessary at all. I gave money away all the time. I had enough to last a lifetime in the gold coins that made up the currency. twice, probably, and doing jobs made me even more. Any money I spent was indiscriminately distributed among people who sold things, and because that money could be found in dungeons, along with the lack of danger in everyday life, there were no poor.

Here I was ranting again as people looked in awe at the race going on in the movie. I sat myself down and watched with them. People's confusion at the older brother taking and sending the package away, only to gasp in surprise as the little 'present' exploded and released chunks of metal everywhere.

The interesting take on introducing the characters was accepted quite well. When pokemon began whispering things like 'where is the older brother right now?' I realized that they might be heavily impacted by what happened to that character. I found myself going back to my planning for the tournament, not really wishing to hear the response I knew I likely would about that.

Sarah noticed I was not paying attention. "Caleb, are you all right?" she asked me. I looked into her eyes, seeing that legitimate compassion she had, and opened my mouth to answer.

"Yes, I suppose I am. I simply have other things to do. I have seen it before, and watching the reactions of others could be tiring over time."

Sarah seemed to understand something about my reaction that even I had not. "You're afraid they won't like it?" she asked. I blinked, reconsidering my emotions.

I suppose that I was somewhat worried about that, yes. I nodded slowly. Since when had I felt that I needed others to like something? My instincts were gone, my mind should be back to normal… Unless this is what I had grown to become. For the first time in my life, I had a large group of friends rather than a few friends I had little contact with with the exception of Riley. Perhaps I really did want some degree of acceptance for what the human world has to offer now.

Maybe I had truly changed. I was pacified now. I could accept change if it was natural, and with my instincts gone and their effect on my mind gone with them… This was indeed natural. I was conflicted, to be honest, between acting as I believe I should, or to act as I really would as a person.

A legitimate conflict, for once. Not some unnecessary battle between my mind and my unwelcome instincts. "I suppose I feared that something like a movie would not be accepted well due to certain aspects of it. I do not remember a time when acceptance was something I cared about…"

"Just means you have a lot more friends, people to care about you, people for you to be friends with, or to love…" Sarah trailed off, her meaning at the end clear enough, but her understanding of the situation aside from the love comment was almost as if she had read my mind.

"...You are truly observant." I complimented her eventually. "I can only say that the movie has some scenes that only I would be accustomed to, such as some exposition related scenes."

She turned her attention away from me as that scene played out after I mentioned it, detailing the reason that Speed's brother was not there in the opening race scene beyond the flashback scenes. As I had suspected, there was a lot of shock and painful expressions, some not even able to comprehend the idea. I winced.

"And I was correct about their reactions." I continued softly "It struck them very hard, even knowing it was a fiction story."

We watched for a while, while I allowed Sarah to sit closer to me than I normally would have. There would not be a problem if she did not try anything more. She became particularly edgy during the romantic scene, so I readied my paw in preparation to halt any shenanigans.

I appreciated the seeming honest effort to **not** lunge at me with a kiss or hug or something, though it looked like she was having a legitimate difficulty with not doing so. when the characters came close to kissing, pokemon around had reactions building up for release at the action, only to be disappointed by the interruption.

"Oh, come on." Sarah complained. I guess she must have been waiting for that moment to try anything with me.

"I see why you enjoy this movie, Caleb." Daemyn commented, making me sigh. I felt minimal emotional connections to anyone aside from friendship or family relations. Considering my memories, I was mostly convinced I was entirely asexual. I did not relate to these characters. I enjoyed the movie due to how it was built, it's multiple messages, and the pacing, and… The skillful design of the movie in general.

We continued to watch, as I kept an eye on Amber's reactions and Jake's reactions, wondering if either would seem to recognize something. I kept Sarah within the range of my absol sense to avoid any incidents.

She was holding herself back quite a lot, and it seemed to be really messing with her head. As if she had to put real effort into not jumping me. I worried for her condition now. Perhaps there was some explanation, but I was unable to discern it right now. I would have to wait.

By the time the movie ended, the emotions in the room had fluctuated a whole lot. There was the obvious 'he's dead, no wait, he's alive, dead again, and… Alive?' reaction considering Rex, as well as the entire deal.

But it seemed, to my pleasure, that the group had enjoyed the show. It was getting late, and I was quite famished. "I am going to go to the guild." I said, finding myself yawning. "Ninetales, could you refresh that curse before it becomes too late?"

"Certainly" the ninetales replied, approaching and setting her tails against my cranium again, as I bristled from the pain of the effect taking place. Once I got my bearings again, I thanked the pokemon and travelled out of the cafe.

"Hey, Caleb." Amber's voice interrupted me as I approached the center of the crossroads. I looked back to see the eevee standing there. "I wanted to say: There were a lot of moments when I felt like I should know something when I watched that, from concepts to other things. What I mean is… Thanks."

I smiled warmly at the girl. "It is a pleasure to be of assistance." I responded while Sarah walked out, having a conversation with Alger. The umbreon looked to the rising moon, and excused himself before walking off into the woods. Shade too, disappeared into the woods in a different direction, into the night.

"Good night." Amber walked back to her teammates, where she certainly felt safest.

I watched everyone I knew personally have discussion with each other, their much different personas mingling and creating friendships... Or rivalries—many of the group wanted to take a whack at Keron, though they were not entirely hostile—and I smiled again. Things were going very well.

"Hey, Caleb." Sarah interrupted my thoughts. I turned to her, motioning with a paw to continue. "Could we play one more game of chess before bed?" she asked.

My smile widened. "Certainly." I replied.

* * *

Dinner eaten, chess game won, I curled up for a rest I felt I had earned this time around. Waking up in the dream world wound up with me opening my eyes to meet the dull, defeated eyes of Amaterasu and the sleepy yet happy eyes of the kids.

"You three enjoy yourselves?" I asked needlessly.

"Yeah!" the kids exclaimed.

"Remind me never to piss you off." Amaterasu requested dully, "Your punishments are far too… Creative… For my tastes."

"Feel free to pass out." I stated, and the white wolf promptly collapsed on the bed they had met me on. "Alright, kids. Why don't you tell me how much fun you had?'

Laughter filled the room as the kids told me of all the things they had done while playing with Amaterasu, which all seemed very exhausting. Apparently, the wolf was good at her job today. She snored slightly on the bed in an uncomfortable looking position.

"That all sounds fun. You look very tired." I noted.

They gave high pitched yawns as a confirmation. I led the sleepy children downstairs, making a book pull itself from a shelf and float over to me. "Let's set you two to bed after a quick story." I offered, leaping into the chair that Riley had apparently vacated for whatever reason, watching the two of them leap up and squeeze in next to me on the cushion of the chair.

I was not halfway done with the story by the time they were snoring.

* * *

 **Is it too late for a spoiler alert? Yes? Darn it. Oh well. It's an old movie. A great movie. Go watch it.**

 **Yes, amber is really freaking OP. That is just her. Feel free to speculate on how she managed to be completely fine after some of those brutal attacks. She is the type of character that dislikes fighting in general, but will still participate. I decided on that moveset for her primarily because Return just makes sense for her, and she tends to use a lot of physical attacks. Except for the shadow ball. Why not have Amber use shadow ball? I know it's been done before, but as I have shown, many techniques can be used in many different ways. Daemyn has quick shots, Sarah has large slow shots, Amber has quick, large, highly explosive shots of OPness.**

 **Seriously, she creats mushroom clouds with those things. I emphasize her OPness to make it clear that it is intentional with her.**

 **After all of that, the group of OCs and the main characters are all in a big group of friends or aquaintences, except for Keron. The guy is not happy with much, is he? Anyhow, Caleb is managing to be happy without his instincts driviing him, meaning that his acceptance of his situation is growing without that effect, and he knows this. That is why he had become more pacified about it. He does need Ninetales' help with keeping himself sane, but hopefully after Goldeneye finishes her work he will be in a good mental condition.**

 **Please remember to review on the chapter, and have a great rest of your day, everyone. Later!**


	14. Chapter Fourteen

**Christmas update!**

 **Amber: Hyper, could you keep it down, please?**

 **Me: Sorry Amber. I'll let you keep napping. But here you all go. I'm updating it right now because I can, and screw the consequences for updating it when a lot of people are not actively reading fanfiction. I'll get into reviews, and then we will begin.**

 **I can't answer that question, Spacemarine64. Many of my OC's had mega stones (Basically every one of them that could mega evolve was specified to have one), but I could not just toss mega stones around, and you will notice a distinct lack of mega stones with the exception of two. Whether they will be used or not, I will not spoil.**

 **Oh dear... Shipping fanfics. I am glad you found that chapter entertaining, Zero Lunar. The vulpix character was indeed specified to have seven tails, with the badge tied to the middle tail. Blood won't be common in the story until things get serious, like it does in book one. Contrast to the norm is important. As for ghost type moves and what they affect, I frankly consider fighting types to be basically normal types. They are so similar, and for resistances, I decided to make them the same for that reason. You are correct about the effectiveness of slash and psycho cut, so that was an error on my part.**

 **While there is not much I will respond to from your review, just because my word choice might be too revealing, I will say that Amber showed her iron tail when training with Erza in an earlier chapter (I believe), Rocketiermaster.**

 **Guest... I think that's Raven, actually. Yes. Amber does indeed create a mushroom cloud with a shadow ball. Ninetails and Wigglytuff are still in the race, though Neither has come across Amber yet. That is food for thought, thank you.**

 **Glad I could bring back the dream world. I will do that periodically, but I can't do it every chapter. Well, I could, but then I'd run out of dream material.**

 **The tournament is genrally accepted to be for fun by most. Friendships are not going to die just because someone beats somebody else.**

 **Of course your friend can come along during reviews if you like. It is entertaining to read. And considering I do this kind of thing all the time, it would be incredibly hypocritical of me to stop you from doing the same, ZLAXE. As for Gallade's stone, think of a necklace hung around his arm, betwee the shoulder and the extended elbow. Because his elbow is extended like that, the necklace will not simply fall off.**

 **Yes, I do watch MatPat and I enjoy his work. Particularly because of the analysis he goes into.**

 **I can't tell you whether you won or not, Phillip Harbindinger. You know that.**

 **Long time, no see, Nopemanor. and, ah, thank you. Wait, that's not Nopemanor. Well, I guess if you'll be introduced to me soon, then that will be cleared up eventually.**

 **Alright. Final announcements. "The Kitsune and the Jackal" is a story I started writing, and will be doing alongside TAC and New Age. I may put it on hold to make some things go faster, but on the other hand, I believe I should be able to handle it. So check it out if you want to.**

 **Alright, everybody. Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter 14: Surge**

 **Sarah's POV**

Something was not quite right this morning. We all woke up happy and ready to go, Caleb had every contingency plan available and a half, we could probably take on whatever showed up to greet us, and the tournament would probably go very smoothly. None of us had any real problems with each other and our internal problems each were not affecting the outside world at all. We could all be happy.

Except… I couldn't. Something felt wrong. I kept having this urge to go out of my way to be as close as possible to Caleb, and fighting that for his sake had started to seem like a painful venture rather than a noble one.

This morning, I was not able to stop myself from trying to give Caleb a nuzzle. Legitimately incapable of **not** doing it. That impulse I had pretty much took over. I was beginning to wonder if there was something wrong with me.

But all of those worries would vanish whenever I was in Caleb's presence. I couldn't sit still. I **needed** to be as close as possible to him. How could I possibly even so much as mention this problem to Caleb? He'd think it was some sort of cop-out, I'm sure.

But the tournament was able to mostly distract me from being absolutely ridiculous today. I still sat as close as I was allowed, but I felt pacified with that as there were other things to focus on. For example, Alger being called out again to face a group of three.

The umbreon frowned at his luck. He would need a lot of skill to bypass this one. As my felow shiny found himself in the arena, I watched as a rhyperior, an onix, and some other rock type I hadn't seen before took the stage opposite him.

And what do you do when you are faced with odds like that?

Why, use toxic and run like hell, of course.

It was surprisingly effective. Alger just pretty much played tag with the enemy, racing away as fast as possible and taking whatever time he had to try and poison the rock types. Leaping and darting, avoiding the particularly swift onix, which would appear out of the ground constantly to try and crash into the umbreon.

Toxic is one of those attacks that is key to defense. Poisoned pokemon with the move toxic constantly take more and more damage, and at an increasing rate as well. Pokemon with bulk like this lot were just asking to be taken down a notch by toxic.

It took about ten minutes, but Alger, panting from constant running, stood victorious without issuing a single proper attack move.

Ninetails was called out next against some other pokemon. She trounced the poor duo of kricketunes and wiped out the masquerain with a giant solarbeam. Game over. That team had been victorious by putting their enemies to sleep. The poor fools hadn't gotten a chance this time.

"Glad I don't have to plan out how to deal with that." Caleb muttered "Though I have my doubts that Shedinja would have been affected anyways. Well done, Ninetails."

"Thank you."

Wigglytuff looked innocently up at a tangrowth and sent him flying.

"That was relatively quick." Daemyn commented.

"He's a guildmaster like Ninetails is." Erza reminded him.

The announcer called team Amber to the floor. There was not much of a contest this time, though Magnezone got roasted. Everyone had to wait for a bit while the giant crater in the center of the arena fixed itself via magic.

Erza played a game of whack-a-dodrio after her teammates had been beaten and came out on top.

Daemyn was knocked out by a parasect because of that awful spore attack, but Bastiodon proceeded to hit it with a giant laser.

"I am beginning to notice that the teams coming out on top are those that either focus purely on strength, speed, or status ailments." Caleb explained "Very few teams have a combination of any of all of the three."

"It is one of those few who are likely to come out on top." Ninetails agreed. I didn't like that the two were so involved in conversation, much as I tried to squash that with rational thought. Instead, I inched closer to Caleb again, which he seemed not to notice.

Jake and his team were called, then Goldeneye and her team, and then us. Placed right in the middle of our victorious friends and allies. The twin fighting types that faced us gave Caleb pause. "one of them threw a flaming punch." he warned. Shedinja backed up a bit, prepared to launch attacks from afar, before he realized that the ghostly attack of his shadow ball would be inneffective.

Caleb cursed mildly. "I shall ask the kecleon brothers if they have a technical machine that Shedinja can use." he decided. "For now, Sarah, please take care of the slow one while I distract the fast one."

I blinked, and stopped staring at his face. "Which one is the slow one?"

"The red one."

"Ah."

" **Shedinja**."

" **BEGIN!** "

Caleb charged, angling himself to the left and drawing the attention of his blue opponent. I quickly got in the way of the larger one, who was wasting time trying to follow. I sent a large amount of flames into him, which he managed to endure. Shedinja was slow, so as he floated up behind me, I quickly jumped back, and the ghostly shell acted as a shield for me.

" **Shedinja**."

"Oh, right!" I had totally forgotten.

I started smacking the enemy around with water pulses. The poor physical attacker didn't stand a chance; he tried to make a rock appear in the air and I only shot it away with my water pulse. Finally, he roared and leapt at me.

I let the familiar azure glow erupt from my body, Shedinja having reminded me of that attack. He couldn't move me, as he tried to throw me. I kept it up, though I wasn't going to last forever.

Not able to move, I wondered how Caleb was doing. " _Bad Sarah. You're getting distracted."_

My thought did not manage to fully snap me into focus, but Shedinja hovered close to the throh and a flash of green light created an 'X' pattern. The attack made Throh leave me alone for the moment as he fruitlessly tried to grab Shedinja and move him.

I roasted him again, and he succumbed to his injuries. The flames had splashed off of him, however, and I hit Shedinja in my carelessness. "Dammit." I cursed, and quickly apologized to the unconscious shell before I searched out Caleb.

Caleb was not able to strike the sawk that was currently after him. I was just looking around to face him, as the sawk, battered but not defeated, lashed out with a mach punch. Caleb looked like he was going to attack, and met my eyes.

That moment, He slowed just enough that his psycho cut only provided a little damage and the distracted absol was sent flying across the arena. Time seemed to freeze after he crashed to the ground while tumbling, and I could see that he was very much unconscious.

the sawk turned to me, but I didn't care whether he was ready or not. Winds whipped around me at intense speeds as my anger rose. This dolt would regret **ever** laying a hand on my Caleb!

The ground was torn apart, flames fueled by rage leaking from my bared fangs as the winds whipped everything into a sphere around me, the sheer force of my continuously growing power lifting me into the air slightly as I was hidden in a spherical vortex of wind, fire, grass and dirt from the floor. The sawk began backing away, as my absol sense told me, but that would not save him.

I let out a roar, and all of what I had in my vortex was transmuted into pure type energy, and all of it swirled into my horn as I brought it back. Burning, angry eyes met shivering, fearful eyes, and I dropped to the ground. The moment my paw struck the dirt, I twisted, and put as much force into swinging my horn.

 **DOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWW!**

The incredibly large vertical blade of fire, ground, grass, and wind elements soared forward, expanding as it flew. It dug through the ground without being affected, and the sawk tried to run away only to find himself caught in a wind tunnel as the condensed energy caused everything to be pulled towards it as it flew, and it struck the fighting type square in the face and chest, exploding in a mighty sphere of fire and wind that enveloped an entire fourth of the arena.

I panted from the effort, but the job was done. After about five minutes, the smoke cleared away to show a blackened and severely cut up sawk, who was unconscious. Served him right. He wasn't getting up any time soon without the assistance of-... Oh darn. We all get healed afterwards.

After that process of being healed (Shedinja was very forgiving), we arrived back on the stands in time to hear some hushed whispers about my abilities. "I'm glad you're safe." I said, trying to get close to Caleb, who, despite moving at a rather slow pace, managed to skirt around me and sit down in his spot while I tripped and landed on my face without his direct action.

He does the same thing with a quiet voice, and everybody seems to hear him. It must be that official aura of his that makes everyone pay attention just a little. Maybe the extreme **awesomeness** he had made him able to dodge without moving fast enough.

Or maybe I was just slow. No. He was too cool for the answer to be so simple, and I could be pretty darn fast when I wanted to be.

" _Stop it."_ I scolded myself. Caleb didn't need me to start acting like that again.

And that's when things **really** started to blur. That day, and then the next, and then the next… It was all the same stuff. None of us were called against each other for five days, which was when something we hadn't seen coming happened.

" **ALGER VERSUS TEAM ETERNAL FLAME!** "

We all exchanged looks, and Alger said quickly "I believe my run has ended." before he was sent away. That guy had been all defence, so getting this far had been impressive enough. Now he faced four very powerful pokemon that were basically a family. They were stronger, they were faster, and they communicated with extreme efficiency.

There were not too many pokemon like Alger and I. Seeing him face off against a team he knew he could not defeat was painful for me, and probably for him. When he was told to begin the match, he summoned a toxic attack under the charizard, who would hopefully be kept out of the air from the painful distraction. Unfortunately, it was with a quick movement that Vulnona brushed Glurak with her tails and with that cursing ability, cured the poison.

 _Magic accompanied by everything else…_

Alger moved, trying to get out of there before he was surrounded. Kemuri, the one with a decent quick attack, had cut him off with fire. Eventually, the umbreon was surrounded. He poisoned Redmund and Vulnona, but by then the entire group launched fire attacks at him.

Alger quickly became an immovable object via protect, enduring the massive attack until Vulnona, ignoring any pain she felt, brushed the umbreon with her tails and once more cast a curse, thereby halting protect and then finished the fight quickly.

Alger was perfectly courteous about admitting his defeat, wishing team Eternal Flame luck in the future. Even so, he looked slightly down, though he clearly tried to hide it. I noticed it very quickly. Now **I** was conflicted.

Caleb detected that very quickly. "He would appreciate some sort of consolation" he told me "The kind I don't believe I could provide."

He was telling me to go of and talk to him. I nodded, and walked over. As I approached, my thoughts turned to how much easier it was to walk away from Caleb if he told me to. I winced. I wasn't the type to do as people say without hesitation. I would have thought about it first. Admittedly, as I began to think about it, Caleb was right about Alger needing some sort of consolation for the loss.

That in mind, I approached and sat next to him. He gave me an acknowledging nod, and I paused before beginning to speak. "You've made it really far for being on your own." I commented, intentionally avoiding the topic of this fight specifically.

"A defensive strategy will only get one so far." Alger replied in a way that Caleb might. "The various strategies used by others would never lead to my success if I did not change my own when opportune, and as I am alone, that was another obstacle. I am frankly stunned that I made it this far."

I forced a laugh. "Run and persist. That's always a good strategy."

He glanced over at me. His expression told me he had not been expecting that. I decided to continue. "Listen… You can't feel bad about coming so far only to fail. Eventually, you have to fight the best of the best, and the fact is that even if you got so far…" I continued, pointing at Amber, who wasn't looking at me. "...She would probably stomp you, and she has teammates. For being alone with a defensive position, you did extremely well with very little actual luck being involved."

I looked him in the eyes. "So don't feel bad. You did your best, which was pretty amazingly good with only defensive attacks."

He hesitated, watching the battle down there unfold, which was a very interesting battle to be honest, and I was gratified by a small smile. "Thank you." he decided to say.

I walked back to Caleb, attempting to brush up against him as I moved to sit down, only to get absentmindedly smashed into the dirt. "I am analyzing our potential future opponents." he reminded me, and left it at that.

More battles. I found myself practically falling into the past, because I knew that tomorrow during the rest day, Caleb would give me all sorts of lessons about each group that posed a threat. Caleb had taken time during each night to play a movie or show some other sort of entertainment, and two days ago, he had informed me of his strategy… And his misgivings.

* * *

I walked up to Caleb, sitting next to him as he watched smaller children play with a calm expression on his face. They were singing the music from the end of that Speed Racer movie, laughing as they raced each other.

"This is what I was afraid of." Caleb said softly "In consideration of my showing movies and media."

I was confused. "You were afraid of… Kids singing and playing?"

He shook his head. "No…" he murmured "I was afraid that the influence of these movies would affect them. Afraid that if I show the wrong thing or detail the wrong thing, these children will get the wrong ideas from them, the wrong messages. People die in these movies, Sarah. I would never forgive myself if I corrupted an entire world of innocent lives, and yet, they implore me to do so because it is oh-so-important **human knowledge** , as if that was in some way profound or important to the continued existence of any pokemon in this world at all."

"Well, you can just show them ones that aren't like that, right?" I tried to reason.

He gave me a sad look, that had me rather worried. "Right?" I asked.

"There are very few like that, Sarah." Caleb informed me darkly "Very few. And I never saw half of those that are, as they use extremely high pitched voices and that always hurt my head somewhat."

I was conflicted between wondering what Caleb was planning to do in that case, and worrying about my own somewhat high pitched voice. It wasn't like it was grating on the ears, right? It was a normal female voice, it's just that that is unusual for female absols.

"What will you do, then?" I inquired.

"...I will give people the option to view them, I suppose, and give ample warning to neither let the scenes they see affect their actions or to assume something like that could happen… Or… I would basically have to remind them over and over again that it is fiction and that none of the deaths really happened."

Caleb looked again at the kids playing around, claiming to be faster than each other. "I would wish to smile seeing children play like this, but the implications of my influence on the entire world due to my memories is too dark a concept."

I silently watched the kids play. "...They remind you of our child versions in the dream, huh?" I asked after about five minutes. I was victorious; Caleb gave a smile.

"Yes. They do." Caleb murmured in reply.

After a while, he proclaimed that we had some training to do to be prepared for the eventuality that we would start coming across tougher opponents, and the most dangerous opponents he would train me to combat. Strategies and such. By the end of each day, I knew who we had a chance of meeting and what sort of strategies I should use in the process.

I smiled. Caleb was so selfless. He has all the support he deserves, and he's honestly a little flustered at the fact that they want to give him even more. He just hides it. I'm good at seeing these things.

And Caleb certainly seemed to value that. He constantly would tell me that my perception when it comes to people personally is very valuable. The armored absol admitted to not being the best at deducting the feelings of other people, even if he can pretty much calculate everything else. I filled in that gap, and he appreciated it.

I probably would care less if Caleb didn't care.

* * *

 **Caleb's POV**

The next tournament day was when my ability to perceive events apparently failed.

It was nice weather, as usual (it never was bad… Ever. Somehow.) and the tournament numbers were really getting shorter. Any day, it was changing. No longer was it possible that our group might have to face each other…. Soon it would be **plausible**. But now, now we were being called to face team Titanium. Apparently, they were quite good at their job.

Furthermore, the phanpy and the bayleef had not used the full extent of their abilities at least. I knew that. I could not predict this. The outcome was hidden for me.

Which meant plan B: get knocked out before Sarah, or at least pretend to be unconscious, and let her annihilate a large portion of the field in her anger.

I remembered how well that had worked out last time.

A drapion is a strange thing to see. Apparently dark and poison type, which was destined to make life difficult for me. For all of us. "Take out the drapion immediately; he could harm Shedinja. Knock him out, and the battle is ours by default." I ordered "Sarah, flank him on the left, and keep an eye on the phanpy. Shedinja, stay back. I will handle the bayleef to keep her from using those vines."

"Got it."

" **Shedinja**."

" **BEGIN!** "

I barreled towards the bayleef, who was surprised by my frontal attack out of the blue rather than any sort of obvious strategy. Over to my left I sensed the phanpy, Steamroller.

Petal pulled some vines out of her body and tried to wrap me up, but I generated my slash attack and skidded to a halt, slashing apart the vines as they came for me. Petal winced, and looked at Drapi the drapion.

And her eyes widened.

Drapi was in some serious trouble. His dark type attacks were not long enough of a range to take down Shedinja, who was protecting Sarah from Steamroller. They were outclassed, and they knew it. With Steamroller kept at a certain side of the field, and myself keeping Petal here, the only one able to move even a bit was Drapi, who was being circled by a fire breathing absol.

Things looked even bleaker when Sarah unleashed enough fire to provide a light show for the moon (not literally, but having not been able to see for myself some of her earlier feats, I knew that was the biggest burst of flame I had seen her use.)

But Sarah had let her guard down. That was very bad. I leapt away from Petal to avoid an attack in my apparent distraction and launched a night slash at Drapi.

My direct hit was destined to finish him off, but not before he got a full powered and **devastating** cross poison attack off on my teammate, who yelped and tumbled away with wounds that looked very much infested with poison. She would not last much longer.

As Drapi and Sarah dropped, I turned my attention to Petal and took a step forward. My threatening move to have her retreating elicited a **far** different reaction.

My eyes reflected the pink light I was seeing, and I was far, far too close to do a damn thing about it. I swore as I twisted away, but I felt the impact anyways, as my vision went hazy and my mind clouded.

 **Shedinja's POV**

 _Well, that sucks._

Sarah was down, Drapi was down, and Caleb was… Now madly in love with Petal. The poor girl would be getting quite the earful after the previous trauma Caleb experienced from that little trick. She didn't look happy about having to use it, however. If I had to take a wild guess, I would imagine that that was pretty much a last resort. Petal knew she couldn't beat Caleb in a fight, so incapacitating him by making the absol want to nuzzle her instead of attack was a much better way to deal with it.

Unfortunately, I knew Caleb very well at this point. The guy was **not** going to be happy about this. I have my doubts that he would willingly talk to the girl for a while, and when he did, he would make very clear how little he would dare trust her.

From previous experiences with the girl, just seeing her as everyone passed by, she was kind of shy, generally nice. The situation was most certainly unfortunate.

There was silence in the arena for a bit as Steamroller and I just kind of watched the proceedings. I eventually turned towards Steamroller. He was not focused on my, so… " _I believe we should continue our battle."_ I said in my mind.

" **Shedinja**." Goodness, it was annoying not to be able to speak properly.

Nevertheless, the message seemed to stick as it tended to do when people are paying less attention, and Steamroller turned towards me. Again with the very awkward silence as we tried to ignore Caleb chasing after Petal. There was laughter in the stands.

Now I was not happy. The last time this had happened, Caleb had been **traumatized**.

I shot a shadow ball at Petal. it would have hit her square in the mouth, had Caleb not decided that he was going to be the 'hero' and take the hit. If I was capable of expression, I would have adopted a very conflicted expression.

It was mind control that affect dark types, with only one real command. On the other hand, Caleb would remember all of it. Every single moment. But after a moment, I knew that Caleb would thank me for ending this as soon as possible.

So I blasted him repeatedly as he continued to shield Petal, to knock him out. The battle was already won, really, with Drapi down. I could afford to help Caleb.

It took ages with the others dodging, or in Petal's case, acting as though Caleb was still chasing her, but I never seemed to run out of energy. Perhaps as a shedinja, I did not need to worry about energy. Unless, of course, I simply hit my limit at some point.

But that never happened. I was proclaimed the winner after about ten minutes of shooting, because after Petal took a hit from trying to move me with vines, and Steamroller bounced off of me a few times, they had realized that it was pretty much pointless.

Caleb tried to march off after he had regained his senses, and Sarah was going to go follow him, but I placed myself in the way and did the equivalent of shaking my head. He was absolutely **seething**. His hatred of that technique was clear, and understandable, really.

It would be a poor time to tell him that I seemed to be immune to that as well, as I had just found. I didn't know why I was immune, but I was. It had just sparked off of my shell when she used it again in the last few minutes.

I guess my ability saves me from that. Wonderful. But I did not want to aggravate Caleb further. Instead, I blocked his path while everyone else we knew shivered when they saw the furious and embarrassed expression on his face. Anger was not something anyone wanted to see on Caleb's face.

"I cannot accept the use of such a horrid technique." Caleb forcefully stated. I noticed that Sarah had not heard this, as she was pacing near where I had remained. Caleb finally cut his rant off when Erza calmly and patiently noted that the battles were continuing.

Caleb prioritized studying his opponents again over being enraged, and there was a mildly hidden collective sigh of relief. I mentally joined in on that. I really, really hated being an empty shell. It separated me from the others, made it so, so difficult to be a part of any conversation, even if I contributed to it.

Caleb put work in every day to find some way to talk more clearly and accurately, but even he was making minimal progress.

" _Caleb, if you must know, she used the attack as a last resort. When she was afraid that I would defeat them, she did the same thing on impulse. It is my belief that if she knew of your fear… And evident hatred of the technique in comparison to others, she would not have used it."_

My carefully worded explanation was, as usual, detailed in a single word. " **Shedinja**." This really was getting annoying.

Caleb's shoulder's lost a majority of their tension. "I have overreacted. It is obviously a normal technique to use in this world, despite how much I would wish not to believe it. I cannot accept being struck by the attack, but I also cannot fault others for not realizing this. Thank you, Shedinja." he said.

" _You are welcome."_ " **Shedinja**."

Disaster averted properly this time, I let Caleb analyze the opponents. I was a bit busy panicking over why the attract attack hadn't so much as touched me. Attacks like that don't really have a specific type, like the ghostly version of 'curse'. Theoretically, I could have been affected, so why wasn't I?

I was trying to figure that out throughout the night as well. Until I got a new topic. Is it that I don't need sleep or is it that I **can't** sleep? Which should I use in a sentence when describing my lack of a sleep schedule? Perhaps both?

So many worries that I hadn't bothered thinking about before. I just kind of watched Sarah and Caleb sleep. Again. As I do every night. Maybe if I stared out the window instead, that would be a decent use of my time. Or maybe I could go… Floating around the town.

That was a good idea. If I was back in time, These two would not be worried. I did not want to wake them just yet.

So I did that invisible and intangible trick that I had taught myself to do as a ghost, and floated out of the place. I could basically go anywhere I wanted to, I realized. Forest first. Why not?

I found out why not from a particularly hostile zoroark named Shade. Threatening me with one set of claws generating a shadow claw attack, and the other set generating a night slash. I backed off, but not before getting a good look at that purple crystal.

And would you believe it, I regretted that more than anything. When I looked directly at the item for a moment, my vision became enshrouded in darkness and some sort of **beast** stood there, outlined by the shadows and I could only see two glowing, purple eyes.

I froze looking at it. It was not what had taken Caleb and Daemyn that horrid day so far back. Those had red eyes. These purple glowing eyes feld different. Even so, I heard a deep growl from it, and it gave me a steady, chilling look…

Shade pulled the crystal out of my vision and threatened again to attack me. I cleared out of there.

Next, I wandered towards town. Alger was looking at the moon, as umbreons do. " _Clear night tonight."_ I mentioned in passing. " **Shedinja**."

"Yes. It is." he replied, before looking slightly startled and giving me a look. I gave him my equivalent of a nod, floating up and down.

" _It has not stormed here for a long time."_ I noted. " **Shedinja**."

I had waited until Alger had thought I was leaving to say it, and he nodded in response without looking back. He had remembered that I needed people not to pay me specific attention formy words to be subconsciously understood.

I traded more words with him, and then moved on. It was nice, actually, wandering about. I don't know if it was allowed, but… It was very nice.

It was actually Petal I met next. This was unexpected for me. The bayleef was walking about for a bit. I suppose it was early night, but still.

I decided to turn invisible this time around. " _Excuse me, are you lost?"_ " **Shedinja**."

Petal jumped, and looked about for the source of the voice, but she could not focus on me. If she was focusing on my voice, however… I did not know for certain. I would in a bit.

"Who's there!?" she asked. I wished I could frown. " _Shedinja."_ " **Shedinja**."

No, the irony was not lost on me.

She let out a breath. "Please don't frighten me like that. I… I am lost. I don't remember where our house in treasure town is, and I got separated from the others in that immense crowd again."

" _When others are focusing directly on me, they don't get the messages behind what I am trying to say, unfortunately. I wished to inform you of something, actually. Caleb has a particular fear of the attract technique. It would be kind not to provoke him with it."_

" **Shedinja** "

"I-I understand. Tell him… Tell him I'm sorry" she requested. Then, she looked about with a lot of uncertainty. "I guess… I'll just… Find my way home then."

" _Let me help you."_ " **Shedinja.** " I offered. I became visible at will and floated in the direction that Petal was going.

She had the general area correct. About ten minutes later, I had found the place, where her teammates were preparing to go get her. I was a bit mad that they had not done this earlier, but Petal had placated me with the information that she often was late coming back for this very reason. The bayleef was just later than usual.

And then I was at sharpedo bluff. Time seemed to be irrelevant to me when I was not doing anything. Not because of some aspect of me, but due to my becoming unfocused for a time.

The sea did look very nice, even under the lesser light of the crescent moon.

In fact, the crescent moon looked nicer to me than the full moon. Perhaps I had a connection to a moon phase as well? I had this broken halo thing floating above me that was shaped like the crescent moon and colored white. Maybe I **did** have a connection to the moon now. Kind of like how umbreons gain a connection to the moon when they evolve.

Maybe. I didn't really know. Caleb would probably add that to his list of things to study, and yet… I didn't want to bother him with this. He had so much on his plate already. Caleb would accept the study topic the instant it was mentioned, and it would just add to his worries. I wished that he wouldn't drive himself to exhaustion on the days that we aren't fighting in the tournament. He is just going to exhaust himself.

Perhaps later.

'Later' turned into next morning, when we discovered that the aforementioned broken halo thing above my head was used for the new attack that Caleb got me. Caleb commented on its shape, wondering if there was any connection, and added it to his list of things to study anyways. I didn't even say a word about it. I took the moment to remind myself that I had indeed noticed an irregularity in something, and had thought about trying to understand it.

Being a close friend to Caleb does that to you.

Caleb got hit no less than five times by Erza that day, as he kept going on about apologizing (or more accurately: Apologi- **bang!** ) to Petal for his unreasonable about of anger over a scenario of which Petal had no knowledge of his prior experiences. Yes, he did finish his explanation after he stopped bothering to repeat what he tried to say.

At least his mind seemed to be intact…

Caleb had noticed an irregularity in the tournament. All sorts of popular and powerful and generally successful rescue teams were taking part in the tournament. He asked for a list of the most popular. Exactly one was not here, and after a day of investigation (he ran out of things to have us prepare for) he determined from others that that team had intended to compete.

"Team Raider hasn't been seen for about a month before the tournament began." Caleb explained to us. "Were it not for the tournament, I would recommend a full investigation, as there seems to be no official reasons for this disappearance in the reports I borrowed from Wigglytuff, and they have been gone for a very long time. All three of them. Furthermore, they had stated, according to witnesses, that they would in fact be participating. During the week following this first round of the tournament, where it is supposed to be a rest of sorts, I will recommend a deep investigation. Considering how close we are to the end of the first tournament, it seems reasonable to me. Furthermore, while I would assume that there was some sort of danger involved in this disappearance in my old world, I have little reason to worry here."

Most of the others were left dazed at the long winded monologue. "Okay…" Daemyn muttered "Well, I'll think about what I can **remember** from that whole thing, and get back to you."

"None of us know them personally. Not really, anyways." Erza supplied.

That was pretty much the end of the conversation.

And then Jake was called up against team Destiny Bond.

The type differences were insignificant. The skill level of both teams was impressive, from my recollection. Skyfall was very good at acrobatics along with similar attacks to Shade. Goldfinger was excellent at martial arts, and Goldeneye was a magical powerhouse.

Whereas Jake was powerful overall with mixed strategies, Swampert was a character of sheer strength, Jess was a master of the art of punching all the things, and Shulk could hopefully see the near future if he touched something.

Both teams had balance. Both teams had power. Both teams had speed.

Three versus four, and telling who would win was going to be impossible. Unless, of course, you were Caleb. The guy probably had a great idea of the probabilities of the outcome here.

But I decided to settle down, otherwise known as continuing to float where I was already, and watch the show.

Jake was having a discussion with Shulk and Jess, but Swampert was stepping in front of the lot of them. He prepared an attack, but would not launch it until the little time they were given before beginning ended.

Shulk prepared himself, and Jess joined him. Jake crouched down, and I recognized how he stood when he prepared to dig into the ground at a fast rate.

Goldeneye was flicking the wand she held about drawing little, simple magic circles on the ground nearby her from a distance, not intruding on Jake's side of the field and so obeying the rules. Goldfinger to prepared himself as Jess and Shulk were doing. Finally, Skyfall looked prepared to use his illusions and acrobatic techniques to attack.

It was anybody's game.

" **BEGIN!** "

Shulk and Jess hesitated as Goldfinger bolted forward. Skyfall kept after his adoptive father. Jake was down in the dirt, and, as team Destiny Bond discovered, they each had different ways of avoiding the **gigantic muddy water** that was eclipsing Jake's side of the field for team Destiny Bond.

Skyfall was up and over it, Goldeneye managed to do some magical antic that put her to the side of the wave's passing, muttering under her breath about the fact that her pre-prepared magic circles had just been obliterated. Goldfinger had been forced to back up as the wave completed it's impressive course.

With a fourth of the battlefield muddy and watery, it had just become the playground of any water type, or in this case, electric type. Team destiny bond would have to steer clear of any puddle in the dirt, and also keep their feet from sinking in the dirt. They were not equipped for that terrain, while Swampert most certainly was, and Jake and his team had practiced in it.

It was a clever thing to do, Unfortunately, the mud did little to hinder Goldeneye. The delphox's eyes flashed gold and she cast a spell without using any words. Any mud or puddles she walked over instantly became dry, though it seemed to be limited in that it returned to it's earlier state when she left an area.

With the magic user no longer hindered, Swampert was quickly on the receiving end of a couple particularly powerful 'warient' spells on his arms and causing them to become encased in constricting vines full of sharp thorns.

Swampert moved to summon a water pulse in his palm, and grunted in pain when opening his hand due to being pierced by the thorns. Struggle as much as he did, the vines would not come apart.

Jake evidently knew this happened, because Skyfall met with an unfortunate level of pain as the raichu emerged from the earth at an impressive pace and smashed the zoroark in the jaw. He was able to do this because separated as they were, Goldfinger was unable to help him.

Jake quickly defended himself from a shadow claw with his iron tail, and bounced away. I don't know if he thought he was going to get a nice close combat deal or not, because he certainly **sounded** surprised as he experienced a few thousand volts of electricity.

Interestingly enough, he was still standing. He pulled out his claw attacks again, having apparently taken that concept from Shade when he saw her fight.

Jake electrocuted the close combat fighter again to knock him out.

Jess and Shulk were less lucky. The two were occupying Goldfinger, or rather, he was occupying them. Jess' reckless strikes were just being beaten back, and the lucario had a major advantage over Shulk.

"Yahhhh!" Jess blasted herself forward and tried to hit Goldfinger, only for an uppercut to be delivered directly to her chin and sending her skyward. with his other arm, the lucario blocked Shulk's attack without looking behind him to see where Shulk was coming from.

Shulk got his dizzy feeling, as I could see when he swayed. His left eye closed and his right eye flickered with a glow.

"Jess! Get out of there!" He shouted before his eyes went back to normal. Unfortunately, the pikachu was still in the air and was nailed by the aura sphere that Goldfinger threw. The explosion threw smoke all around, shielding the lucario from Shulk's vision.

Goldfinger had no trouble knocking the rather inexperienced Shulk out, leaving the battle to be a two on two match. One that team Destiny Bond would have a difficult time winning because Jake was constantly underground and Swampert was always keeping himself safe with giant walls of muddy water.

Which, judging by the expressions that Goldeneye wore because she couldn't draw her precious magic circles or use her magic properly without Swampert avoiding it (the guy had managed to tear those nasty looking vines off) because he had so much advance warning and was actually pretty damn good at leaning out of the way, was really beginning to annoy the mage.

She was out of range, but the offence-defence balance was perfect. Goldeneye's attacks to do real damage did not go far enough or took long enough for Swampert to see it and step aside. By this point, most of the arena with the exception of the ground around Goldeneye was mud. Mu was not good, especially if the opponents like Goldfinger sunk into it.

Even so, with Jake's two less experienced partners down, Goldfinger managed to find his way to Goldeneye in time for her to erect a wall of shimmering magic energy around the two of them. Then, Jake's lightning bolt from behind them bounced off without hesitation and nearly struck Jake himself. He could have done some real damage to himself with his scarf boosting the voltage, but he was underground by then.

Goldfinger started firing golden aura spheres at the two opponents that could not attack in return. " _Is there any known way to get past magic like that that they know?"_ " **Shedinja**."

"Jake is intelligent." Caleb responded, looking down. "I am confident in his abilities."

If Caleb was confident that Jake could figure out what he should do in the face of this, then I shouldn't bet against the raichu either.

⌁ **Jake's POV ⌁**

"That's a problem." I decided as I clambered from the dirt behind Swampert.

"Yeah." was his short reply. His water pulse had bounced off of it and grown. "That thing acts like a mirror coat."

"Any ideas?"

"Nope. You?"

"I'll get to work on it." I decided, and moved about in the open again. I was light enough to mostly be unhindered by the foot deep mud covering the arena. From a distance, I watched as goldfinger threw more aura spheres at me like it was his hobby, which I didn't like much. I would bat a few back with iron tail, but the shield was only allowing things out of the shield not in. '

My lightning meant nothing. The water attacks and the mud shots that Swampert was using weren't doing jack. I needed a plan. So… What would Caleb do?

Well, I just reflected an attack with my iron tail, and that shield wasn't letting anything in…

My mind flew. I had to figure out how to do what I wanted to do without that shield getting in the way. A grin started to form on my face.

I'm not surprised that Caleb enjoyed being a genius.

I barreled towards the aura sphere throwing lucario, who seemed surprised at my sudden approach. Normally, it would make things easier on him to attack, but I was slapping all of the attacks into the mud around the shield, which did not go though and instead covered most of the shield in mud.

But my plan was only just coming into effect. I was behind the two in their shield, just visible through a gap in the mud, and waved with a cheerful grin. This was to earn the sphere hurtled at me, but now my grin grew.

I could just see Caleb's smile when I got back.

My tail was pressed against the shield itself. The aura sphere attack bounced off of mt tail, but because it had never left the shield at all, it was able to bounce right into Goldeneye's muzzle.

 **Boom!**

The shield disintegrated as soon as the magic use was tossed away, and this met up with Swampert's muddy water, which was easily enough water to knock out a fire type.

That was when Goldfinger and I realized together that we were also in the line of fire.

"Oh, son of a-" we said in unison before promptly being slammed by a high velocity wall of water moving fast enough to knock us both out and fling us across the arena.

I awoke to congratulations from my teammates. That had been a hard fought battle, and I made sure to congratulate my opponents as well.

"Well fought." Goldfinger congratulated me. I shook paws with the guy and we were generally all having a good time chatting about recent events, such as the fact that neither team really made much of a tactical error and once we had forced them on the defensive, I simply had to think quickly.

And then Caleb gave me his own congratulations, which felt absolutely amazing to hear.

Jess woke up while that was happening. She was particularly happy at the way that we had apparently won, lunging and hugging me in her happiness. I stood statue still, trying to fight some reaction I was feeling building in my chest. Considering the way others were chuckling at the look on my face, I failed.

"Oh, C'mon, guys!" I protested.

"Red as a tamato berry." Daemyn chuckled as he walked off.

"Daemyn!" I protested again, distracted now from Jess who still seemed to be hugging me.

Battles started up again, and time seemed to fly. Daemyn won a match. Erza won a match. Ninetails won a match, and Daemyn spent an extra five seconds congratulating her after that impressive display (the guildmaster never moved an inch in battle, even with it becoming more difficult).

I asked Caleb why they were not putting a round a day in now. Caleb responded that he was not certain of their reasoning, but it did allow him to have contingency plans for every opponent they might face. I was confused until Sarah explained to me that while Caleb was not around his friends, including me, he was having his team practice to specifically defeat who Caleb believed was the most dangerous in about ten different ways.

"Practicing to take us down, eh?" Daemyn asked. "Well, no wonder he is prepared for everything."

"Having Shedinja on his team makes some things easier." Erza pointed out "I have zero chance against Shedinja and Jake can't hurt him either."

That wasn't good. If I went against Caleb's team, I was done for automatically. That was not so much strategy as exploiting a fact of Shedinja's biology, but this was not due to Caleb's strategizing. This was because Shedinja was a friend. Advantage or no, nobody would ask the armored absol to remove Shedinja from his team.

So having an extra day to do all of that strategizing… Maybe I should start doing that. Then again, he was driving himself to exhaustion all the time. The word 'hypocrite' flashed into my mind for a fraction of a fraction of a second as I remembered what he had told Goldeneye.

Which was why I paid him a visit the next morning. Not his being a hypocrite, but him needing more rest than he gets. Shedinja had disclosed to me discreetly that Caleb spent time awake at night finishing up some plans and going over them. He took this entire tournament far too seriously. It was a big game, all of it.

"Caleb" I greeted him as I walked in. As I had suspected, he already was speaking with Shedinja about tactics. Something about making Sarah angry… I gulped. That's why he always made sure to be the first one out of the game when he fought. Take an attack and get knocked out and that is always followed with Sarah going nuclear. **That** was why he always seemed to take powerful attacks in the face rather than the armor.

I didn't think I needed to say anything to the others. Caleb worked way too hard to have these strategies, and I felt that it should at least mean something in the long run. "Hello, Jake." Caleb replied, turning to me. "How are you this morning?"

I decided to be straight and honest with him. "I'm worried." I said, facing him, "About you. You look tired, Caleb."

He looked back at Shedinja, who faded right out of existence like a ghost. I had a feeling he was still listening however. The absol eventually sighed and sat down. "Jake, this is not a question of being exhausted or whatnot." he informed me. "Why do you think I am spending so much time on my strategies?"

"I think you are taking this game too seriously." I challenged. I learned the hard way that Caleb preferred that others did not beat around the bush, so I got right to it. "As little as it happens, this tournament is one hundred percent **for fun**."

"Then you misunderstand my point." Caleb told me instantly. "The point? I have multiple points. One. My first point is that I am new to this world. This tournament, is the true first impression. Literally the entire world watches this. By being skillful and advancing as far as I possibly can to the best of my ability, I leave an impressive impression upon the entirety of the world. This means that in the future, when I present my findings and other facts through my research, a majority of the world will take me seriously because they will remember my name, just as they remember yours when you saved the world."

I was rooted to the spot. That was some pretty damn solid logic there. I knew for a fact that people took me about ten times as seriously once I was done saving the world. Showing the world that you are strong really does matter, and when Caleb put it that way, losing badly in the tournament would make his eventual findings in the world less impactual. To achieve his goal, he had to strategize. A lot. He had to **guarantee** his victory.

"Two. My second point is that, to be frank, this is what I do." Caleb continued in a softer tone. "This is who I am, who I have always been, and with Ninetails' help every day, I can **be** who I was. I analyze. I plan. If things go wrong, it is my fault. Do not get me wrong; when we come up against team Amber, **if** we come across team Amber in this game, we will lose. My goal is to discover what Amber's hidden abilities are, that she manages to hide from everyone. We cannot win that battle without taking down Amber, and planning out a way to do that… I do not have enough information because of her own cleverness. We have to focus Amber down, and her teammates outnumber us."

I blinked. Here was Caleb telling me **exactly** when he was going to lose, and what he was planning to do instead. Back to his topic of respect and people listening, Amber was hiding her abilities at the moment from most others. If she did not… People would be even more impressed with her. Others would be even more likely to listen to her than they already were. He was helping her at the same time, because he knew for an absolute **fact** that the odds were so stacked against him that he could not win that battle.

My argument died in my throat. His work was going to make everything in his future easier for him, and easier for Amber at the same time if he was successful. And he would be. I knew he would be. He was too smart not to think of a way. If Caleb was so certain that he would lose to team Amber, then the chances were that Amber would probably win her team the entire tournament.

But…

"Caleb." I said "Please, after this tournament segment is over, please get some actual rest. You are working yourself way too hard, even if you are doing it for the right reasons."

"I will have a job to do after that." Caleb stated blandly.

I shook my head. "No. You won't." I asserted "I'll pull some strings, talk with Chatot and Wigglytuff and Loudred, and you are going to sleep in for several days, because you don't need to be out there all of the time. I'll bet you don't even know that rescue teams tend to go on missions once every few days normally, and spend other days doing whatever. Every day, you go out and do something and exhaust yourself. We did that too, at first, before we graduated. Life's a bit more complicated than it seems."

Caleb said nothing for a while. his red eyes boring into mine. I was seriously tempted to look away from that look. It was uncomfortable to see. However, he eventually sighed. "I have been somewhat hypocritical, have I not?" he deducted. How he got to that point was… Well, it probably could have been expected of him. "...Very well." he finally stated. "I can do that. Some rest would be… Nice, though the irrational and potentially self destructive portion of my logic would call it counterproductive."

"How do you think Goldeneye feels?" I asked. He faltered at that. Then he looked down in something resembling shame.

"Hey." I said, putting my paw on his shoulder. "You said it yourself; what you're doing is self destructive. We all know you care more about others than yourself. All of us know that. That's why you were chastising Goldeneye for doing what you were doing. But that's what we're here for. Keeping you yourself in line."

He gave a small smile, yet said nothing. I smiled myself. "And one more thing, Daemyn and Erza have something planned for tonight, I think. I know you'll make them look like fools."

And then I walked off. Caleb didn't have to say a word if he didn't want to. I knew he was silently thanking me. That day, most of us except for Caleb and his team hung out and I explained to them why he was doing what he was doing, making them feel a bit better about it. Whether it was one hundred percent correct or not, they said, he certainly had a point.

That night, however, was when the show was going to begin. Caleb decided to show a more violent movie because many were asking that he show the full extent of what humans called entertainment, so with a lot of warnings and making everybody promise to ask him personally for permission before developing **anything** they might want to, and to heed his warnings against doing so and forget about it if he refused because that thing would be counterproductive to the great societal balance we had as a whole.

But when he started the movie after assuring himself that nobody would take this as anything other than fiction, he walked out. Erza took the initiative to say something about it.

"He looked pretty uncomfortable." She pointed out.

Ninetales took her own initiative. "He is likely going to need me to renew the curse placed on him. I shall make the effort to console him as well."

And then she walked out. Erza and Daemyn moved in a silent manner and followed. I waited for a minute waved for the others to continue watching without me, and I went to make certain that they didn't go overboard. They had spent days planning it, so it just might be a plan worthy of Caleb.

Ninetails met up with Caleb nearby a cliff face, having followed him through the small forest to the ledges around the cliffs. I peeked from behind a tree branch, only my eyes showing through the leaves.

"Something is troubling you." Ninetales stated firmly as she approached him and stood next to him, looking out over the plains far below.

"Yes."

"Do you wish to discuss it?"

"That I have done. It has not changed my worries."

"..."

Caleb looked down the side of the cliff. "...My influence is far too powerful." he stated "What the others are watching is a violent movie, and I cannot know for certain that they will not be impacted in a social manner as a direct result. Even with all of the promises I elicited from the others, I fear that I have changed the world for the worse without that degree of absolute innocence I saw everywhere I go. The other day, I saw children singing the song from the end of the first movie I showed you while racing each other. It only took one two hour session for that to happen, Ninetails. My impact on the world is far too much."

This was probably not what Erza and Daemyn were waiting for. I don't know if they actually knew he was troubled. I knew that he knew what he had to do to be efficient, but **this** …

Ninetails was silent for a while. "Your impact has been far from negative thus far." she pointed out.

He shook his head. "It could be. It could so easily be negative. One misunderstood instance of inspiration from the wrong aspect of my world or my life, this world could turn for the worse easily. Firearms for example. I explained them to you, and I do not think that an average pokemon would survive a bullet from most firearms if placed in the right location. By showing a movie that shows this is possible to create, as I am in fact doing, I am committing to spending my life keeping a watchful eye on the entire planet and ensuring that no such thing is brought about in this world."

"And you show these things because people want you to." Ninetails reasoned "If they want to see something with all of their heart, they will promise you whatever you need them to."

"But a promise…" Caleb responded flatly "is just a word."

Ninetails really had no argument, it seemed. Caleb went to continue. "That is a worry that cannot be resolved. I feel the need to help the others understand what they wish to, which is my personal flaw."

Ninetales sat down. "To admit your flaws… You cannot imagine how easily you could have denied them."

"I can imagine." Caleb responded "Which is part of my problem. If I was thick, I would not be struggling with this in the first place. If I had lost my memory, I would probably be happy. Instead, I am willingly putting myself into a life of analysis and understanding of a foreign world that I am personally changing while doing so, making that job ever more difficult. This world is impossible. The laws of physics barely seem to matter. Magic is real. I am taking on a challenge I will be spending my entire life working out how it works past the limits of pokemon knowledge. Possibly without proper rest for a large amount of it. And even then, I may not discover what I wish to discover because something may just be completely impossible and happen anyways, with no explanation whatsoever."

"In a way, I can only put myself in a worse position as I move on with life." Caleb said in a pessimistic manner.

Ninetales said nothing for a while again. Just him speaking about it was probably helping him in some way. Part of the problem was that in a way, his logic was impeccable. He **wanted** to know how the world work, but by all logic and reason, it **didn't**. He was chasing down a goal with wings. And he was very much grounded.

And what was also sad was that he had made it pretty clear that he could not bring himself to give up on such a thing. It was not in his nature. He could not bring himself to give up. Failure was not an option in his eyes. And to give up is to fail.

This fear of failure was probably driving him to do what he was doing now in regards to the tournament. He needed others to listen to him unconditionally to succeed if he **did** find anything. There was no point in finding something if the findings were utterly ignored. To change the way the world is understood, he needed people to listen. He needed everyone to listen.

He had his friends listening to him right now, and even with Erza and Daemyn doing… Whatever it was they were doing above them on the next ledge about ten meters up, the two of them were listening as well, and that was what mattered.

Ninetails used her paw to make the boy look at her. "Listen." she said "Pushing yourself so hard is not good. I know why you are working on what you are right now, and I know that it is correct, and I know that the near future will be difficult for you. However, you have more than eighty years of your lifespan left. Seventy of those you will be in prime condition to do as you wish."

Caleb stood up and increased the distance between them slightly, and Ninetails stood as well. The two were facing each other proper now. "Caleb…." Ninetails whispered, "There is not one. Single. Pokemon. In the entire world that expects you to solve the world overnight. It would be fitting to quote the parameters you set for Goldeneye to allow her to sleep. You remember them, so they do not bear repeating. You are not expected to give up, you are not expected to do things a certain way. There are literally no true expectations for you here. You are **free** , and that is what you fail to grasp. Your own expectations of yourself can be drawn out over your life if you like. Even conforming to parameters that are more than reasonable, you could do what you want to do within fifteen. Perhaps twenty."

"...Ninetales…" Caleb murmured, his eyes shadowed. "...Thank you."

"I am always ready to help." Ninetails replied with a smile.

The two really were so similar, were they not? Both could reason with each other, help each other. Both knew when the other had a valid point. Both could understand a situation by looking at it, and both… Knew perfectly well that they were going to be ambushed.

Caleb whispered something that I barely picked up even with my super raichu ears. "Erza and Daemyn will be dropping something on top of us in an attempt to create… A 'moment', I believe they would call it. They misunderstand how I view others, evidently."

"Yes…" Ninetales replied, before a large quantity of rose petals were dumped on them, which unfortunately did not spread out and float down. No, a mass of red plant material dropped on them like a snow drift because they were all clumped together in that bucket of theirs.

Ninetales' head popped out of the pile in a comical manner, spreading flower petals everywhere. She had this deadpan look on her face that Caleb would probably have when he emerged. My assumption was proven correct, though Caleb's face was directed upwards.

"Did I not teach you two basic physics?" he deadpanned. That question alone gave me a hazy memory of one of the many things he ranted about in the lessons that were hard to listen to. I guess that's how I knew that when they were clumped up so tightly in what I assumed was a really big bucket they would not separate as much as they could have done, and only some of them fluttered downward like they were supposed to.

"That was a large amount of planning gone to waste." Ninetales deducted, emerging from the rose petals and walking off. Caleb joined her without a word on the way back to the cafe and the movie.

Erza and Daemyn interrupted them, as I saw. Caleb had clearly been expecting this. What he hadn't been expecting was the looks on their faces. Nobody spoke for a bit before Erza had him wrapped in a hug.

"Erza…" Caleb murmured. "I'm okay. I'm fine."

"No, you aren't."

Erza, I'm **fine**."

"No, Caleb. You're in pain, you're always in pain." she refuted. "And from what I can tell, anything we do to cheer you up doesn't work either. Drop some rose petals on you, and you lecture us on the laws of physics."

"Air resistance," Caleb replied monotonously, almost robotically, "Petals flutter when they are in flat shapes due to the air pushing against them, and when everything is clumped together, the surface area is lessened and the weight, or force of gravity on an object, increases."

"Caleb…" Erza murmured, her voice carrying way more emotion than his.

"Resulting in the clump of petals acting more like a single object, which would fall to the ground with the exception of petals peeling from the edges of the clump, which do flutter down, as their surface area to weight ratio is appropriate for experiencing that degree of air resistance." Caleb continued dully.

"You don't have to be this serious."

"...I apologize, Erza." he said, but Erza just kept on hugging him.

"Nice try, but you can't get rid of me. You heard Ninetails; All of us did. You don't have to push yourself so hard. You could do an eight of the work every other day, relaxing the rest of the time, and you would get what you want to done with so much extra time. Please, Caleb. Please just enjoy yourself, and if there are consequences, if anybody is **stupid** enough to try and build some of the more violent weapons in these movies and stories, we'll deal with it together. As a **team**."

"Our being the leaders of different teams is only a technicality." Daemyn supplied "We could do whatever we wanted as one big group. We're all a big team, officially or not."

"..." Caleb didn't say a word. He resembled a statue again. His eyes shadowed, his expression… Not as grim. It looked different. Still the expression of someone who has been so injured and so defeated for so long and hiding all of it. But I had a feeling that it wouldn't last forever. it couldn't possibly last forever.

Erza must have been so surprised to feel Caleb's paw on her back, pulling her deeper into the hug. "...Thank you." he murmured, the volume dropping. Some of the tension in his shoulders vanished in the wind that moved his fur about.

Erza was the one to be silent now. The absol only released Erza when he apparently sensed something. Erza released him just in time for Sarah and a bunch of others to burst onto the scene, believing that Caleb had disappeared for long enough to be worried.

I found my focus on Jess specifically again as she greeted the others with a wave of her paw. I was distracted pretty quickly as Sarah tried to put together what had been happening. She was doing that odd attachment thing to Caleb again, trying to nuzzle him. He let her this time, possibly because he needed the comfort and was already showing that. Possibly because he did not have the energy to deny her that.

"Erza? Daemyn?" Caleb asked. The two looked at him, waiting for him to continue. "Please stop trying to get me to be involved with somebody."

They nodded mutely, and that would be it. They wouldn't be playing anymore with that. Considering that Caleb showed **zero** interest in anybody when he was thinking normally, it was probably for the best that they stop wasting time with that. They could be having fun in other ways, like having actual conversation with Caleb, which he seemed to enjoy immensely.

The movie turned out to be really good, what we saw of it. Caleb was… Pacified in terms of the effects of movies. As long as everyone knew it was fiction, he said, it should be all right. He hoped. He so desperately hoped, because despite his stubbornness, he was taking the time to admit that he did need some rest from constantly worrying and watching.

He fell asleep, actually, during the movie. Head falling against the table. I wondered how much sleep he actually got each night, even though Shedinja claimed that he did go to sleep. Maybe the guy just needed more sleep than he got, which meant he needed a **lot** more.

Daemyn chuckled as he stuffed some flower petals together in the shape of a rose behind his horn. Erza one-upped it by putting an actual rose there and scattered the petals from before over the rest of him. While everybody laughed, I thought, this is how friends operate.

He did look so much better with a rose on his horn, after all. Each and every one of us (even Sarah) was laughing as we imagined the deadpan look we would receive when we woke him. If he ever noticed.

Good times.

* * *

 **Shenanigans and battles, and everything. This is my Christmas gift to all of you. And you get it several hours early, if you live in the western hemisphere that is. For some of you it's Christmas already. Lucky little...**

 **Anyways, Merry Christmas, everybody. Please check out "The Kitsune and the Jackal", please review this story and please review that story and everyone have a good day. Goodbye.**

 **Jango: Last minute interruption!**

 **Me: Jango, please.**

 **Amber: You have enough stuff that you pull out of nowhere, Jango.**

 **Jango: Anyways, on my list-**

 **Me: Chapter end!**


	15. Chapter Fifteen

**Holy... This is... Possibly the pinnacle of me getting carried away.**

 **Jango: Don't kid yourself. It'll happen.**

 **Me: Uh... Where's Amber? Amber? Amber!**

 **Jango: *Grins evilly* Not here at the moment.**

 **Me: Oh... I'll just do the reviews, and then, ah, run.**

 **Jango: It's been too long since I got to prank anybody. You know how it is.**

 **Me: *Shivers* Uh... Let's get on with this. Uh... Well, Raven, Shedinja is a very unique pokemon, and I wanted them to be as unique as a species as possible. Shedinja cannot speak because he doesn't know how yet. And about team Raider, none of the characters connected to my main characters really know that team personally, which is why it is not as big of a part at the moment.**

 **There's going to be a lot more battles here, and possibly some surprises, West. And spell checking? "Check spelling" has no periods in it, unless it ends a sentence. Anyways, Merry Christmas. Bit late for me to say that.**

 **Hello, Sylvie. Nice to see you again after last time. You too, Nopemanor**

 **Yes, there will be a lot of eliminations, Zero Lunar, as happens during a tournament. I hope you enjoy reading the newer story. I'll be working on chapter two of that one after I finish up this one here.**

 **I'm glad that Caleb's monotonous explanation of why the laws of physics thwarted Daemyn and Erza was humorous. That was the intention.**

 **Hey, I somehow missed the review notification. Well, Kumih0, I don't want you to lose sleep over me or anything-blast it! That's something Jango would say. I am so glad that you enjoy this story as you read, and maybe someday I will go and rework the first ten or so chapters of book one. Perhaps. I am glad that you have enjoyed what you have read so far.**

 **Alright... Let's go see what Jango has in store for me... Wish me luck, everyone. Chapter-**

* * *

"Uh, I think I'll interrupt before your little chapter starts. Stuff's about to go down, you know how it is."

* * *

 **Oh come on! Angelica!**

* * *

The human girl who had spoken stood before a opening in thin air, circular and twisting with energy, viewing the events going on in the world. She was interrupted within minutes, the door to the golden room slamming open. She turned her head, golden hair flowing, and golden eyes turning. The golden girl saw the two people she had expected to.

"Figure it out?" Angelica asked cheerily. "I love when people do that. The looks on their faces and all that."

" **That is several steps too far**." Darkness proclaimed, clearly very unhappy. " **You have played with this world to such an extent that it's future would belong to you**."

"All I did was play around, a few pranks, and a few… Ah, buffs, I guess you might call it." Angelica replied. "Oh hey, that's a thing there. I wonder what that does. And a temporal portal it came out of. Neat." she continued, pointing to the image, which now showed a set of three marble sized purple gems with a pink glow within them, and a closing portal nearby. "I wonder when I did that."

"Thousands of years in the future." the other boy stated monotonously. Angelica looked at him over her shoulder again.

"Really, Phaedrus." she identified the boy, turning around and spreading her arms. "You have to **emote** a bit more. People will think you're a machine or something."

"The irony is not lost on me." Phaedrus replied stiffly. "Angelica, you realize how dangerous this is, correct?"

"...What is?" Angelica asked in a mocking, yet innocent manner.

Both males growled. "You are giving away powers from across the multiverse that do not exist here at random, have been manipulating some events for **ages** …" Phaedrus began.

" **And you have no place interfering in the emotions of others. You know this.** " Darkness finished, his purple eyes flickering as they glowed slightly brighter.

Now Angelica flinched, but came back full force with a retort: "The boy would have died if I hadn't set that up. **You** know that." she retorted, crossing her pale arms over her golden chestplate.

"Let's be fair here."

The three beings turned, watching the shadows, as another boy began to move, having been so silent and unmoving that he had not been detectable by most before. That being said, the other three had known he was there. "Phaedrus, and Darkness, if you truly wish to be called by your element still, Angelica has done many things with the future in mind. Angelica, you overdid your spell."

"It was supposed to fade away once your namesake survived those darker days." Angelica defended herself to the new boy. "And if you want to talk about overdoing it, talk to Alex. There is a reason limits are important."

"And yet it didn't. As usual." Phaedrus barked, ignoring the deliberate hypocrisy from the golden girl. "You always put too much power in them, or just forget to set a limit for it. You barely do it correctly the correct number of times for us to condone playing the occasional, **well thought out** prank, like you love to do so much, and yet we don't punish you for doing so much more."

"That" the new boy said "Would be because punishment would be pointless for us."

" **You have a point, my friend.** " Darkness relented, calming himself. "...I simply wish that we could be more careful. Phaedrus and Shula and Brenda have not interfered, and I am grateful, but in this case…"

"Angelica saved a boy who can save a whole lot more even without the help of the guardians."

"I understand, Caleb. Your namesake is alive, and that is good. No other deaths have occurred as a result…" Darkness stated "I can understand why you would be grateful for this."

"Thank you." Caleb replied. The Guardian absently manipulated some snow in his palm. "Angelica's games are turning out for the better in this universe. I would recommend we leave her to it and simply keep an eye on the world in case something gets out of hand. I am still containing the freezarite, though I could release it whenever the glaceon is in trouble."

"...Fine." Phaedrus muttered, whirling and exiting the room.

"Is Phaedrus acting extra snippy today, or is it just me?" Angelica asked "Nevermind. I'll just go back to watching. And pranking. What's wrong with a few pranks?"

The remaining boys looked her in the eye. "Reversible pranks are acceptable." they stated at the same time, before they too walked off.

The golden girl rolled her eyes and waved her hand. The room faded away to open space, and the odd circle that she viewed the world through faded to reveal the actual planet in the distance. "I hate having to provide a room for visitors." she muttered, crossing her arms and watching while floating in the point in space where the planet barely took up most of her vision.

Then she snapped her fingers in realization. "What was I forgetting? Right! I was supposed to be starting the chapter now!" she exclaimed, and whirled and pointed directly at the reader. "What was it he keeps saying? Chapter start? Okay. Chapter start!"

* * *

 **Chapter 15: Without Limit**

 **Caleb's POV**

"So you're supposed to be watching a movie with your friends?" Riley asked me.

I continued stretching my legs. "Yes. I assume I was more exhausted than I thought." I replied, grunting as I strained my body. The reason I was doing this is because I saw Sarah easily facepawing the other day. I had assumed that absols were inherently inversatile, compared to quadrupeds like eevees, but I assume my body was simply not prepared as such.

I had the impression that my dream stretching exercises would not affect my physical body unless more magical shenanigans occurred, but while in the dream I could determine which exercises affect my absol body the most, and utilize that in real life.

Particularly efficient.

"What do you think they've done to you?" he asked with a smirk. I stopped mid stretch, momentarily forgetting my quadruped status for whatever reason and faceplanting.

I rose, attempting to remain dignified. "Likely something demeaning that they can laugh at, something that I should learn to laugh at. Perhaps I can laugh so hard that I actually start thinking random shenanigans are somehow amusing."

"Get on that" Riley ordered, all business. "Because your friends are doing their absolute best to be, well, friends to you."

I nodded. "Good point."

"Let's relieve Amaterasu of duty." Riley offered as I finished up the stretching. "She's been watching over the kids while I've been talking to you.

"She does deserve a longer rest period." I agreed. I stepped outside, and forced my absol sense further than it's real life limits and tried to find the kids and Amaterasu. I met up with a rather disturbing sight, and immediately teleported the two of us over to them.

Amaterasu was attacking a set of chains that had her tethered to a tree branch by her legs. "What happened?" I demanded "And where are the kids?"

She calmed herself and looked at me, hanging upside down from the intricate trap she was in. "I am not certain." she told me as calmly as she could "I was entertaining the children when I suddenly found myself up here. It was instantaneous. And then, I heard the kids giggling at me and talking to each other before they promptly ran off."

I blinked. How could the kids have done that to Amaterasu on their own? Instantaneously to boot? I tried to sense them, tried to find the kids, and found them. On the other side of the freaking mountain. What?

I was over there with Amaterasu and Riley in an instant with my control over the dream. There they were, laughing to each other. "What are you two doing?" I asked "Amaterasu… And I… are very confused and very worried about you."

They sobered up and padded over to me like the mildly chastised kits that they were. "Sorry, Caleb. We were just having fun with our new friends." they said in unison. I blinked. Where had the double speech come from?

And then I blinked again. "New friends?" I asked, looking about.

"Caleb!"

Something shot out of the trees at incomparable speeds and slammed into my chest, driving me across the clearing as I gasped in pain from the impact. I nearly blacked out, actually. Two somethings, actually.

Confusion and a will to protect this place brought my first attack into play, very nearly. Then I had the foresight to actually look at my 'attackers', who seemed to be… Hugging me?

"Caleb! It's been so long since we've seen you!" they exclaimed. I couldn't tell what they were. Or how I apparently knew them. I was so utterly confused, and I seriously dislike being confused.

From what I could see of the two being so close to me and under my chin while hugging me, they were absols. Sort of. They turned big eyes on me, and I could see that. They were mostly silver colored, for one thing. The size of kits. Just the size of Child me and Child Sarah, in fact.

The blade edge of their horns and tails were a cobalt blue, but otherwise their fur and skin was all the same silver color. One, the absol looking being with it's horn on the left side, had sky blue eyes, while the absol looking being with the horn on it's right, as absol always look normally, had red eyes.

The oddest thing about their appearance was the presence of a single wing each. With alternating silver and blue feathers, each absol like being had only one wing in the same side as their horn; the right horned one had a right wing, and the left horned one had a left wing.

Their voices and their size and their eyes reminded me heavily of the two child versions of Sarah and I that stood ahead of me, giggling at what must have been the 'amusing' expression I wear when I am unexpectedly hugged out of the blue.

"Who are you?" I asked finally. Their gazes wavered for a moment, before they backed up. Rather, they floated back. They hovered in the air in a manner not unlike a ghost, very slightly bobbing. Their wings were still; they apparently were for decoration. Silver, single winged absols that, when hovering side by side, perfectly mirrored each other. Now I could see that hanging from each of their horns was a golden amulet that looked like a clock, the face of which was blue with grey flickering numbers, and golden clock hands that spun rapidly.

"Oh, I forgot-"

"-That you don't-"

"-Recognize us."

They had taken turns saying all of that, which was confusing in of itself. "...Am I supposed to recognize you?" I asked "You look similar to the two I protect, but no. I do not recognize you."

It worried me that they looked sad. However, they opened their mouths, looked at the other kids, apparently changed their minds, and opened their mouths a second time. They really seemed to enjoy finishing each other's sentences.

"I'm Phase-" the red eyed being started

"-And I'm-" the other continued.

"Shift!" the first finished the sentence, introducing his fellow being as well as himself. The female, Shift, circled me a few times as she giggled. Despite the introduction, I had zero memories of floating, single winged mirrored absol kit creatures.

However…

"Are you responsible for what happened to Amaterasu?" I asked them. They stopped moving for a moment, and then I was looking at afterimages. I had not even **sensed** them move. They were just in front of Riley, and now they were hugging **him**.

"It's been so long since we've seen you!" they proclaimed. They kept glancing at Child me and Child Sarah. That was odd, and I eventually stepped between the two pairs of small absols, in case they tried anything. If I was going to have to protect this place, I needed to slow these two down. could manage that.

They spoke about seeing him before now, but it wasn't **him** , which confused all of us. Riley asked what they meant, and they suddenly grew a little shyer. I observed that they always acted as if they were connected in some way, thinking and speaking together with ease .

"We can't say." they said in unison "We can't just talk about it. Kai recommended it."

I frowned. "Who is this Kai?" I demanded. I was supposed to be keeping track of the people who existed here. I kept on checking, actually. I had not sensed anybody knew.

"Kaigetsu." they clarified together.

"He kind of-" Shift started.

"-Adopted us and-" Phase continued.

"Helped us get over what happened."

The sad tone they had adopted made me wonder just what happened that could make children so sad after such an apparent long time. They whispered to each other, something about a promise, and their faces brightened considerably. However, that cheer clearly held back a lot of pain.

They were very, very good at pretending, but their expressions were like glass to me. I could see right through them to the true expressions underneath. I did not think that I had been proficient at this for my entire life. I suppose Sarah has taught me a few things as I taught her several things.

"And what happened that was so bad that this guardian of yours recommended you stay away from the topic?" I asked softly. These two were likely not a danger. In fact, they seemed to be friends with the other two children.

"W-well…" they murmured, but I stopped them by raising a paw.

"It is all right." I soothed them. "I understand. I would wish to know because I am wary of you because I do not recognize you and you seem to recognize me. However, you look far too pained when you try to describe it. So I will not. As long as you are not a threat, as long as you do not harm anyone here…. You may stay."

They crashed into me again, instantly in front of me and cheering and generally acting like happy little children. "Thank you!" they exclaimed. I had the sudden, distinct feeling (perhaps it was my horn) that I was being handed a huge responsibility here. And that it was going to be difficult.

"I am going to wake up, soon." I told them "I fell asleep during a movie, so I will likely be woken before we go back to the guild. It will be a temporary departure."

"Okay!"

Their voices really did sound like the children behind me, who were bounding forward and talking with them. The four of them shouting 'okay' in that manner sounded like two voices rather than four, it was so perfectly in unison that they spoke.

Amaterasu approached them. "If I may." she interrupted "You recognized Riley and Caleb, but not me. Why is that?"

They looked at each other. "We never"-"Met you" they told her eventually "Or the tank"-"near the"-"mountain"

They spoke as if they were a single person, really. As if they had one mind, or perhaps two that were heavily connected to each other.

I felt a cold rush around my head, and I yipped in surprise, which was obviously embarrassing to hear myself do. I blacked out and awoke with my face in the table, my head feeling very cold and damp. Water. They had dumped water on me

My head rose from the table with my normal everyday deadpan look. Everyone took one look at me and burst out laughing. I frowned, wondering what the heck was wrong. What were they laughing at?

"That is perfect!" Erza clapped repeatedly "Perfect!"

"What's perfect?" I demanded.

Daemyn was smirking at me, and I finally had the forethought to use my absol sense. I immediately noticed that they had stuck what must have been a leftover rose in the nook where my horn curved upwards. I reached up and yanked it out, absentmindedly noting that some of my fur had come with it's thorns.

"A rose. You lot stuck a **rose** on me." I muttered. I let them quiet down, thinking I was angry, before I forced myself to start chuckling. It was somewhat amusing, actually. I did not have to put too much effort into laughing.

My fake-out caught them completely off guard, and it took them three seconds to start laughing again as they realized that I had done that to them.

"You are so good at that." Sarah complimented me. I tried not to react to the needless comment, and instead stood up. I saw that the movie had ended and that everybody was finishing up what they were doing, and that Erza was probably contemplating dropping the bucket she held with her vines on my head for more laughs.

"I need to go to sleep very soon." I said "My dreams were… Invaded."

Everybody shut up instantly. I continued. "They do not seem to be a threat, and are even as friendly as the two kits, but I do not know enough about them. I must go and sleep and learn more."

"Got it." Sarah said, and finished up her conversation with Twilight. The houndoom and Sarah were becoming friends. "Can this wait a moment? Singe is hassling Vulnona and Redmund again."

At least the girl was showing some degree of responsibility. "Yes, that would be wise." I agreed, and the shiny absol motioned for me to follow her. I stood there, looking her in the eyes. " _Do this without me. Separate yourself from me, and learn control."_ I mentally commanded, hoping she got the message.

"...I understand, Caleb." she said, walking away. She kept hesitating, but she managed it.

"I need to understand why she does not seem capable of leaving me alone." I mumbled as she, having learned plenty from me, talked Singe away from the table. She still had something to learn, however. The hotheaded absol nearly shot the bloke with a water pulse.

"That's a little harsh. She did just manage it." Erza reminded me. I blinked, and she continued. "She's obviously trying, and it's obviously difficult."

I nodded. "I understand. It is simply… Irritating."

"Get some sleep, then." Jake called from his side of the table, and I went to oblige without hesitation.

❊ **Amber's POV** ❊

I left early that night. The others wanted to talk some more, but that movie had kind of freaked me out. It was exciting, and it was impressive, but it was also violent and had character deaths.

I don't like the concept of death. At all. I would prefer to not hear about it, but I understood that a lot of pokemon were very interested in human society, as they would knowing that it was available information. I left just as Caleb did, my teammates thankfully staying by my side while I forged ahead of Caleb, who had been interrupted by ninetales who gave him an update on how the pokemon reacted to the movie or something.

I needed to go to bed. Really, really needed to.

"Goodness, sakes…" I murmured as Absol talked about staying awake **again**. "Absol, I don't need protecting!"

"Gengar and his team have more time to pull their pranks, and I will not have them subject you to nightmares again." Absol proclaimed.

 **Flash!**

 _Just stop trying to play the hero when there are no victims._

I dragged the now sleeping absol to his bed. The guy has been so paranoid about Gengar since the day he slipped past Magnezone to make me experience some nightmares. I was afraid, yes. Terrified, actually. I get scared so easily. But at the end of the day Gengar had Absol and Charizard holding him down and making him apologize.

And even then, I had thought that Gengar had been hurt physically just for scaring me. I looked like someone who needed protecting from others, yeah. But… It has gotten ridiculous by now.

Gardevoir greeted me in my dreams again, me feeling a surge of peace from her presence. Sometimes, I felt that maybe my volatile personality helped me in a way to calm down. Gardevoir just made me feel as if everything was easier, that I could talk to her, that I could discuss my problems and share my happy moments of the day.

When Gardevoir told me that Sarah was exuding a ton of psychic energy again, I did not ask what she was seeing. If Sarah wanted to tell me, she would.

I told her about my day, and we discussed the movie in detail, which helped me feel less stressed. I had been human beforehand, and now that I was an eevee, with no memory aside from the awkward feeling that I recognize some things and references. Knowing that I was once a **part** of that culture was disconcerting at best.

A few hours into my sleep, something very different happened. A space in the air opened, and two small beings about my size shot in at high speeds, doing an odd mid-air version of a skid as they came to a stop in front of me.

"Hi!" they said together, and then began a mess of interruptions and completing each other's words as they excitedly introduced themselves before I was even able to **blink**.

"You're Amber-"

"-Right? I mean-"

"Hi! She's Shift-"

"-And He's-"

"-Phase! It's-"

"-Nice too meet-"

"-You!"

I scrambled away and fell right over, that startled me so bad. I couldn't even **speak**. I just gaped at the intruders.

Gardevoir obviously assumed that they were attacking or something, because she was in front of me in a threatening manner. Threatening the two new creatures, that is. "Explain yourself! Why are you attacking Amber?" she demanded.

"Oh?" the one who was identified as Phase replied, startled somewhat.

"We just wanted-"

"To meet Amber."

"We had Caleb tell us a story!"

As Shift finished that little phrase, it clicked in my head that these two had probably been the ones that Caleb had been talking about, who had invaded his dream. They had just launched themselves into mine? Just like that? What were these absol-like beings anyways?

The two disappeared from in front of Gardevoir, leaving afterimages that lasted exactly one second, and then they appeared right in front of me. I yelped and scrambled away, hitting one of the invisible walls in my dreams.

They giggled a child's giggle in unison, and darted on either side of me. "We're not going to hurt you!" they exclaimed in unison. I closed my eyes tight and tried to make myself as small as possible, before I heard the two being whisked away by Gardevoir's powerful psychic abilities.

"Stop." she commanded "Can't you see that you are frightening her?"

The two floating beings probably looked at me and hung their heads. At least, considering they muttered 'sorry' like a pair of scolded kits, I imagined that had happened.

Gardevoir made a noise of surprise and a whistling sound was heard as they shot through the air, presumably easily flying free of her psychic power. They landed besides me. "We wanted to meet you." they said in unison "We had Caleb telling us stories like he used to do years back."

They sounded far more subdued, and their words sparked curiosity, which seemed a bit stronger than normal. I opened my eyes and looked at the slightly subdued but still happy looking absol kits. Innocence shone in their face, as far as I could see.

"...What do you mean having Caleb tell you stories years back?" I asked "As far as I know, he didn't even have dreams back when he was human."

The kits adopted this sad look I couldn't bear for a single moment. "N-never mind." I whispered "So he told you about me?"

"He always liked-"

"-Telling stories to kids"

That was certainly true. And it clicked in my head that they looked similar to how the other kits in his dream world looked when I saw them. About the same size, though Shift looked like she mirrored Phase with her horn and single wing on the left rather than the right. Perhaps that sheer innocence and the similar forms had persuaded Caleb to tell them stories.

I smiled at the thought of the closed off guy telling what was obviously becoming a crowd of kids stories that they adored hearing.

"He does, but he… Didn't tell you anything personal, did he?" not that I didn't trust the guy, but it pays to be cautious.

"Nah, he just-"

"-Talked about the sheer-"

"-Power you displayed, and-"

"-We thought that how he descried it was-"

"-Really cool!"

I have been described as a lot of things. Really cool was not one of them. Somebody called me 'cute' once. Made my blush so hard Charizard asked if I was evolving into a flareon right there. It was kinda funny thinking back on it.

"So who are you? I mean, I know your names." I ventured awkwardly. They giggled, and started rotating around each other in a way that looked circular from my view. Up and over each other slowly as they started talking to me again.

"We were adopted by-"

"-Kaigetsu, after our…"

"Guardian died."

"Not like Kaigetsu as a guardian."

"Actually, Kai's kind of-"

"-Both. But the person who was-"

"-Taking care of us died."

"Other than that…"

"Uh…"

"We're a part of time energy itself,"

"Being connected to Kaigetsu."

"We're the multiverse's fastest pranksters!" the finished at the same time. With that final boast, they faced each other and high-pawed.

I didn't have a clue who Kaigetsu was, why they mentioned there being two types of guardians, and this Kaigetsu, also known as Kai, was both, or who this other person who probably raised them was. I knew pretty much nothing new aside from the fact that they were… A part of time energy itself? What did that mean?

And then I shuddered. " _World's fastest pranksters."_ They had called themselves. Was I about to have to deal with that? I didn't want to be pranked. Not one bit.

"But Caleb said no pranking! We have to listen to him again." Shift reminded her male counterpart. the other one grumbled, like a kid plotting to disobey their parent.

"No pranking please." I whispered, pressing against the wall again.

"Okay." they chorused promptly. All I had to do was ask them to stop? Okay… That was easier than it should have been.

"I don't really have anything that's interesting around here unless you like sitting around and talking for hours or sleeping within a dream." I admitted.

Now they perked up. "One second!" they exclaimed, and vanished. Precisely one second later, a whole mess of things was on the floor of my dream, the opening in the wall that seemed to lead straight outside closing itself.

They had brought in a mountain of toys and other things, even something that made my mind scream out that I needed to recognize, but I could not. They eagerly started showing me the things. A lot of them were proper treasures; Unique objects that they told me the stories of and how they got them. They had apparently taken it from some sort of home of theirs from a room filled with stuff they had collected.

The details were difficult to discern due to the fact that they wouldn't. Stop. Switching. Speaker. Phase spoke, and then Shift interrupted him, and then was interrupted, and then interrupted Phase, and this happened over, and over, and over while they showed me some very interesting items, some that could even be considered dangerous. Now, interrupting was probably not the right word. If I focused on the words and not the voices, it was like a single person was saying all of it at once, like these two were one person with two bodies or something.

Which is exactly what I asked them.

They blinked. "Uh… Not really." Phase said.

"It's more like our two minds are joined." Shift explained

"That's what Kai said at least." Phase elaborated.

I was confused, and it obviously showed. However, they seemed to be out of time or something. They flickered, and a bunch of their stuff vanished again. How fast were they if they could do that? It was obviously their immense speed allowing them to move everything away so quickly. Well, not everything. They had left me a few things.

"We gotta go." Shift decided

"Caleb will be wondering where we went." Phase agreed, and then they sailed straight out of my dream by firing this silver and blue vortex attack on the wall which opened a door to the outside world. Then they left.

I was left blinking in confusion. I hadn't learned much about them, and my reaction to both of them was exactly the same. I never, **ever** experienced the same exact reaction to anybody, but these two gave me the exact same level of curiosity when I spoke to either of them, or… to both at once.

If they weren't one being with two bodies, they had to be really darn close.

"Well…" I muttered "That happened."

Gardevoir was holding her head like she had had a headache. "I don't recommend telling Absol about this. He would take it as a reason to stay awake while you sleep, even if they meant no harm."

"You said it, and they left… What are these?"

"The top of a magic staff they took from somebody who was attacking them and… I actually do not recall what they said about the second and third one. They spoke far too fast." Gardevoir admitted.

The first thing she had spoken of was a pink polyhedron crystal with a glow in the middle. I absently handled it. Why would they give me this? If it was a treasure, and they just absently handed it to me, they must have a lot of things they have taken from various adventures, to the point where they could just give away things…

The doll object caught my eye. It was a little stuffed animal thing that was rather small, and shaped like Shift. I went and touched that, and leaped back with bristling fur as it shrank into an entirely different doll, one of a bipedal creature with odd clothing on and long brown hair. I stared at it, wondering why it had changed.

Gardevoir moved to touch it, and it instantly shifted into a gardevoir doll. "Interesting. It matches the shape of the person who touches it."

I made myself move forward and change it again. My eyes widened. Was this thing taking my old form? I touched it again, and it changed into an eevee doll, switching between them when I touched it. I looked it's human over, trying to memorize what it looked like. Perhaps Caleb could tell me what was with my skin underneath the clothing, with it being light but with darker lines or dots in places. Several places, like on my face.

"Apparently you were small." Gardevoir joked, humor returning to the room.

"Iiii'm pretty sure that the doll isn't supposed to be life sized." I responded, relaxing somewhat. I needed to read one of those books. Perhaps I would start the book that Phase and Shift left me as the third item.

* * *

I wound up reading through some of the very large book about 'the greatest adventurers in recent millennia in the multiverse', as the book was called. It was a big book, but it was pretty impressive. The thing was half my height and the font was like… Really small.

The next morning, I went straight to Caleb and Sarah.

"Uh… Hi." I greeted them somewhat nervously.

"Hello, Amber." Caleb replied casually, though there was a stressed out edge to his voice.

We spoke for a while. Sarah had had another one of those really realistic dreams that used a bunch of psychic energy, and Caleb informed us that the two who had appeared in his dream had seemed to decide to stick around. Caleb had set them to playing with the other kits.

I informed him that they had shown up in my dream by literally blasting a hole into it from the real world, and that they had really scared me when they did. He swiftly understood why they had done this and profusely apologized (which called Erza over to slam him on the head before he could finish that word) about telling them stories about me, though he assured me that he had avoided any information that I could possibly consider sensitive and not well known by others.

The real deal came about when the tournament became the focus. My dreams stayed normal after that day although I read a lot. But everything really kicked off when Erza was called up… against Keron.

The two teams nodded to each other (besides the angry umbreon), and found themselves down in the arena.

I was hoping that Erza would win, but Keron was powerful with that dark magic, and his mate has shown exceptional psychic abilities. Furthermore, Austburn was a fire type, and he wasn't exactly slow.

But Erza had trained with Caleb. And like the rest of us, she knew what she was supposed to do in a fight like this, what she was supposed to learn.

 _You can win._

 **Erza's POV**

Dark magic, psychics, and fire. Oh joy.

"You two stay as far away from Snowshy." I ordered "It seems that she has a range where psychically holding her opponents in place is far easier for her, and I thought that she might try to get close up to make us float. We're faster."

"Are we going to run?" the tangela asked together.

"Yes." I responded shortly "Don't use vine whip; she can grab them and pull you towards her with psychic power. I will pelt them with magical leaf until they separate, and if they don't they'll just get hit with magical leaf over and over again until they drop. I can't do it forever, but if we can get the psychic type down, we're golden."

"Understood."

" **BEGIN!** "

We all leapt back as Keron alone leapt forward. This should be a bit easier, as his teammates did not follow the same pattern as he did. Unfortunately, he was about as fast as me with his powerful magic outline trick that I didn't understand, meaning the Tangela twins didn't have the speed to outrun him much.

Thankfully, we had the others outdistanced by about half the entire arena while the lone umbreon charged us recklessly.

"Scatter and attack!" I ordered, and we all leaped in different directions. As I suspected, the red ringed umbreon lunged right at me, the leader. He was quickly tripped up by the tangela on either side of him, and I pulled out my flail while he tumbled to a stop directly in front of me.

"I never did give you back the headache you gave Caleb." I reminded him in a mockery of a thoughtful tone. I then smashed him straight into the ground headfirst with my flail. I did it twice, and then I smashed him away towards his teammates with a ground moving smash that managed to hit his half buried head.

 _He is not the best at teamwork. Once we get rid of the powerhouse, the other two willl stick together, but they will be slower._

Caleb had taught me to look for weaknesses in strategy and to make my own strategies. He one upped me by making his in advance, but I seemed to be good at what I was doing, so I was happy with that.

Now we had to run together again. I banished my flail to give myself more speed, launching a few magical leaves just to annoy Keron again. As I suspected, he began charging once more. His entire body crackled with red, angry energy as he prepared something nasty. The now incoming shadow ball was large, and had red lightning coming from within the jet black sphere that reached the edges.

Evading that was easy enough for me, but it exploded in front of us as a result. It was not on the level of Amber, not by a long shot, but it would **hurt**.

Keron had something new for us this time. His runes flickering, he came at us with paws covered in energy. The vines that came near him were hit with them and were sent flying back by a burst of energy. Tripping him up was not going to happen this time.

"Get out of it." I said as I finally activated my quick attack. Even with his runes on his flanks, the speed boost only let him catch up to me when I was going at my **normal** speed. I had to keep taunting him and moving away quickly. I sidestepped his paw and struck with my rapier and sidestepped another swing.

"Sorry, man." I told him "But I'm getting out of this without a scratch."

"We'll see about that!" the umbreon snarled, launching a high speed shadow ball at me, which I leaped away from. He did it again, and I realized with growing apprehension that he was actually driving me towards the rest of his family.

"Oh…" I muttered. I had miscalculated, and he must have been told something by his more sensible family members.

The Tangela twins kept distracting him with vines while keeping their distance. That was good. I had to get real with my speed. I crouched underneath a shadow ball and shot forward with what might have been a sonic boom. I saw his flickering red eyes widen, before he took a flail to the bottom of his chin.

I huffed as I felt my normal energy level drop like a rock. I couldn't use quick attack much longer if I have to keep doing **that**. The umbreon was sent flipping through the air uncontrollably, and I turned my attention to staying away from the other group while launching magical leaves at Snowshy just to keep her occupied trying to hold the heat seeking leaves in place while they tried to stab at her face.

Austburn chose to start launching fireballs at me, which were easy enough to avoid. My Tangela tripped him up real quick and retreated before the psychic could notice. Now every one of our opponents had a different focus entirely, which is exactly what I wanted.

Now to tune out that stuff and focus on the umbreon- _oh god he's right in front of me._

I barely shifted out of the way of the punch, going at normal speed, and then I took a step back each time I barely, just **barely** avoided the next strike. I had to conserve my quick attack for more actual strikes, so…

Keron was not appearing to get tired. I was starting to tire myself. Moving really fast had a toll. Why wasn't Keron tired? Was that angry magical force giving him extra energy?

Caleb had described the impact from the punch as painful, but the impact from landing was more so. If I had to get hit, I needed to **not** be where I was; In between Keron and his mate.

"Still can't hit me huh?" I taunted, sliding just out of the way of his paw. I spun around behind him, slashing him with my rapier along the way. He growled as he charged, and then…

He toppled for a moment. I had slashed at the runes on his flank, which had apparently disrupted the effect temporarily. Just by chance, I had discovered something very helpful. I smirked as he growled at me. Eventually he would hit me, but I was going to make it as annoying as possible for him.

I stepped to my right and launched a magical leaf at his face. His horrid magic aura made the leaves lose their power and wither and die. I had hoped he would dodge the attack so that I could pester Snowshy some more.

"Welp." I muttered aloud, purposefully getting the audience to laugh. Keron scowled at me, growling. He charged me in a reckless manner again, trying to tackle me.

I sidestepped and slammed him in the face with my flail, sending him back, only for him to bounce right the heck back up. "What's your deal?" I asked him "People tend to stay down when I hit them."

More dodging. Keron was really becoming a nuisance at this point, because I was tiring and he was not, for some reason. I intended to win this fight, so I had to really get it in gear. I also had to get away from the advancing Snowshy.

So I made a tactical decision and let him slam me straight in the chest with his paw. I have to say it: Caleb kinda understated the pain level of being hit by an anger fuelled magic punch. I was sent flying, up, up, and out across the arena by the impact magic.

I landed on my feet, softlanding and skidding to a stop with minimal damage from the crash. My chest hurt, but otherwise I was fine. I smiled. Now Keron was way, way far away from his mate. However, I was also across the entire arena from my teammates.

I blasted myself forward again, running out of energy for quick attack really quick, and caught the umbreon by surprise. He was smashed repeatedly as I sent him flying and kept up with him while doing so, hitting him as many times as I could before I promptly ran out of energy for any normal type moves, and tripped as my legs stopped moving as quickly and I tumbled past Keron, who was also crashing, sliding to a stop on my hurt chest.

"Ow…" I muttered, pushing myself up. I glanced over at Keron. Nobody could withstand an attack like that unless they had a type advantage, right? Nope. Keron was rising to his paws, still growling, energy pouring out of him that caused a lot of the area to appear bleaker. It was like he was leaking foul magic energy. I winced, wondering what the umbreon had done to himself to be infected with such a horrid power. Those runes had probably done it.

"Why are you standing!?" I exclaimed in exasperation, "Stop standing!"

He began to run again, running towards me. I stood shakily; I could still dodge without my quick attack available. He kept coming, and I readied my weapons once more. Shifting and ducking and jumping constantly, I somehow managed to avoid my clearly underestimated opponent. He showed no sense of exhaustion at all, even while missing as I bashed at him repeatedly, and used my rapier to cut at the runes on him to slow him down.

And then I got an idea. A quick slash struck the bands of runes cut into his skin under the fur, and instantly stopped the energy coming from those paws. His next punch struck me, and did absolutely nothing. I had barely felt the impact. It seems Keron was physically weak underneath the magic boosts and I wondered just how much damage he had done to his physical body that was irreversible.

He snarled and unsheathed his claws, attacking me with those instead. He just got a flail to the face for his troubles. His paws started flaring with energy again as the runes started to ignore the new wound and start working anyways.

Unfortunately, his anger was increasing. The grass around us was dying. I myself felt a little sick at the negative energy erupting from him. It did not feel nearly as bad as the dark power that had overshadowed Daemyn and Caleb, but it was still bad. He roared and launched a different sort of attack at me.

I jumped away from the weird orange flame with the glowing red symbol in it, memorizing what it looked like before it caught the area on fire, and the flames that looked to be created out of mostly hate burned away the area quickly.

 _Holy… Avoiding that._

I had to figure out what those runes on him did. The ones along his spine glowed when he launched that particular attack, along with a symbol on the center of his forehead.

 _Must be one of his most powerful tricks then. If that symbol were to be tampered with… But the runes ignore the cuts I put on them after a while. But… Those runes do look like they were cut into the skin, and maybe burned. I can't do burning, but if I change a symbol to look like something else, what would happen?_

This is where Caleb's training came into the light as I reviewed the symbol in the flames and the one on Keron's forehead. The latter was two lines simpler than the former, and otherwise was just the same. He prepared another attack, and I had another idea.

"Hey! How's Austburn then? I haven't talked to him in a while." I said quickly. As Keron's flames of hate built up, my words turned his thoughts to his adopted son, and the flames of hatred died out instantly. The umbreon shook his head angrily and tried again, apparently putting his son out of his mind and trying to take me out with those nasty flames.

"Or Snowshy? I haven't spoken to her even once." I admitted. I really should do something about that. I was moving forward, my other plan in mind as Keron's flames sputtered out uselessly once more. That was the only two shots I got to have, as i knew nothing else that Keron loved.

But unfortunately for Keron, I was close enough. My rapier flashed twice, and I jumped back as he tried to launch another burst of fire created from pure hate.

The symbol I had changed on his forehead glowed bright with the symbol of the flame itself, and Keron's blast exploded instantly covering the umbreon in his own horrid flames. His roar of pain made me feel absolutely bad for him, but I had no other chance of victory.

My slashes seemed to have been accepted by the rune as well, possibly because I had done it just right. The umbreon collapsed as the flames died out, and to my shock, he once more tried to struggle to his paws.

"Don't do it." I warned "You're far too hurt, and you're running out of energy. I reckon you have some of those runes keeping you going as if you were not tired as your energy depletes anyways. After that flame, you're gonna drop soon. Don't keep hurting yourself like that."

He gave a low whine of pain as his burns started getting to him. I couldn't handle it. "Let me stop the pain." I offered, before smashing the umbreon on the head with all of my strength with my flail. And I think that is the first time I have seen a grateful look on his face.

I sat down, suddenly tired. That had taken a lot out of me. And there was still a battle going on. I was dizzy from using too much normal energy in a short period of time, and my grass type energy was also fading. I forced myself to my feet again and checked up on the others. Everybody was so, so far away from me, and Snowshy was keeping Austburn nearby, having seen Keron downed.

I dragged my weapons behind me; dismissing them and creating them took energy. It was better to waste physical strength, as I actually had some of that to waste. Walking towards the 'battle' going on that was essentially a standoff.

"Plan Earthshaker!" I called out. Snowshy and Austburn looked at me quickly, and my tangela teammates acted immediately. They used ingrain, a move that would both keep them on the ground even if Snowshy attacked them, and launched a dozen vines each into the earth. This was risky. Caleb would see it and plan for it, and that was one less thing I could use against him in battle.

But it had to be done. The tangela twins had more energy than I did, and they were not exactly on my level in terms of skill in the first place. That meant I was really, really weak. The tangela had to do what I had told them, and they would.

As Austburn noticed they were holding themselves in place, he immediately launched fire at them. The flames, likely given extra heat from the fact that his adoptive father had been downed by me of all people, traveled in a stream towards one of the tangela… And was blocked by a boulder rising out of the earth, held by two vines wrapped around it.

 _Plan Earthshaker. Find boulders large enough to act as both shields and weapons and drag them out of the earth._

More erupted from the dirt. About twelve in all had been found, and they were being held in such a way that the tangela with their ever stretching vines could put shields wherever they wanted. Snowshy could try to move them if she got close, but I had something I could do with the last of my energy.

I threw my rapier as hard as I could, watching as the hilt construct struck Snowshy on the back of the head, and the espeon turned towards me, surprised that I could still do anything. I collapsed onto the ground, feigning exhaustion.

Out of my barely opened eye, I saw the espeon return her attention to the boulders that were surrounding the tangela, trying to think about how to get through it. And then I stood and launched my flail straight at her head, hoping to get her down long enough for her to be smashed by a boulder.

Or at least, I hoped that my backup plan didn't also fail. I knew that when the inevitable happened, I would win anyways. Snowshy stopped the flail without looking, and then she turned to face me. "I will not be fooled twice." she told me harshly, probably not happy that I had knocked her mate down.

I then smiled. "Sorry." I said, wobbling on my feet "but you just were."

I manually detonated both my energy ball-created weapons, the explosion from both above and below Snowshy crashing into her and erupting outwards, filling the area with smoke. Two energy balls with more energy packed into them than I was used to doing. Holding them together in itself had caused my grass type energy to deplete.

Snowshy was lying on the ground. Austburn stared in shock, stepping back and then lunging to check if his mother was still awake. I waited until he seemed to confirm that she was down before I allowed myself to black out.

* * *

⌁ **Jake's POV ⌁**

Erza and her team flashed back to the stands, having been healed. Erza was looking about. "Did we win?" she asked, clearly drained. Healing does not equate restoring type energy.

"Definitely." I replied instantly "Your teammates smashed Austburn flat with their rocks. Nice one, by the way. Caleb won't let you use it if you have to fight him."

"I know" she said, plopping down in her seat near me "But that was good. That was okay. I feel lightheaded, but otherwise I'm fine thanks for asking."

Caleb frowned over to my right. "Keron is not healed." he proclaimed.

Snowshy looked him in the eye. "No, his dark magic prevented it from working. We will heal him ourselves now. Good luck in the future of this tournament."

With Austburn's help, Snowshy got the unconscious umbreon onto her back, and she started to walk away. It was Austburn who held them back, approaching Erza. The servine looked like she was wondering whether the quilava would be angry with her.

"That was really cool!" he burst out excitedly.

I nearly died with laughter at Erza's expression.

Erza and I spoke for a while after the day was nearing it's end. Caleb set another movie up, that ended, Caleb got ninetales to reset the curse on him to maintain his much needed sanity, and finally, the next day, things really got exciting.

Because we were called up against team Amber. Why was Sarah giving me a sympathetic look? I had thought through my plans of what to do, unleashing the same thinking process Caleb must be using to keep winning the way he does.

I could instantly take Charizard out of the sky. I tightened my orange scarf, feeling it amp up my electricity output massively. I could give that one such a shocking that he might forget how to fly. I wouldn't, of course, I needed to retain some of my energy for taking down Absol. Shulk and Jess were tasked with handling Absol, and Swampert would be able to easily block Magnezone due to his dual typing hindering Magnezone doubly.

That left Amber. If everything went well, we would have a four on one advantage. She would likely not attack at all until her teammates were down; she really did dislike fighting. Made me wonder why she was taking part in the first place. Perhaps, like Caleb had been planning his own growth in the community, Amber was hoping that she might be accepted in some manner.

But if I went easy because of that, the image would probably be ruined. I had to go all out, and I had to win if I could. Amber had already shown nearly the entire world that she was powerful, and that she disliked fighting, and others had proven that they would respect that.

Caleb had plans for unveiling Amber's abilities, but if we got to the point I was thinking of, I hoped to do much the same for Amber. If we were going to win, I did not want Caleb's planning and Amber's ascension to popularity going to waste. Both of them deserved success.

" **BEGIN!** "

I remembered seriously disliking Loudred for a while, though after I started talking to him a bit, I realized he was just doing his job. I wondered if the slight ringing in my sensitive ears could be explained as that exploud doing his job. I swear he was getting louder as the tournament progressed. Maybe he was just excited.

I checked myself, noticing my distraction. Charizard was in the air, and Swampert was already knocking Magnezone around. The steel and electric type was actually a decent flyer, but Swampert has been downing flying enemies with water attacks for a long time. A mud shot would take the distracted magnezone out if I timed a distraction just right…

I shot a tiny, almost miniscule bolt of electricity right past Magnezone, and to my credit, the pokemon's single eye tracked towards it and distracted it in time for it to be hit by a mud shot and sent sailing.

I checked up on Jess and Shulk. The two had been practicing their quick steps, and so were avoiding the rather rampant psycho cuts I reminded myself that Absol was tough and that he was smart, and that he could predict danger.

Danger like Charizard going for **them** rather than me. This would not do. I quickly ran forward and struck him with a smaller bolt to distract the large dragonic pokemon.

 _That's it, come towards me… You've lost._

Charizard had obviously forgotten that I have the power of lightning mastered. He was lit up by so much voltage that i could not actually see the result until I relented, watching the pokemon plow into the ground in front of me, downed.

Amber had been on his back, and she hopped of, unharmed. I had not seen what trick she used yet. But she backed away from me even if I couldn't actually hurt her. I gave her a wide berth and lunged for Absol.

Faced with three opponents, one of whom really, **really** likes punching things, Absol was in trouble. He got a slash off on me, but my iron tail caught it, and then Absol was sent flying by a punch from Jess, who had sent herself sailing towards him beforehand. I gave him some more electricity, downing the absol.

 _So far, this has been surprisingly easy_ I thought as magnezone crashed unconscious right on top of Absol. _Absol is a glass cannon so that makes sense, and I could make just about anybody drop when I use ninety percent of the electricity in my body like I did to Charizard. Swampert outclassed Magnezone, who is the least developed in their team… Does Amber carry this team?_

No. All of the others in Amber's team could hold their own. Absol had trained Caleb constantly until Caleb had been able to one-shot him, but at the same time, Absol could one-shot Caleb. Absols as a species are immensely strong, but they can't take much physical punishment in return. I have seen Absol take on entire teams of four on the earlier rounds of the tournament single handedly. Magnezone was a great tank against most, but with Swampert's double advantage and training, he was outclassed.

Though skill and sheer power and advantages all together, the only strategy that mattered up until now was who fought whom. All of us surrounded Amber, and I knew that this might be our most difficult fight ever.

"Shulk, Jess, keep your distance." I told them "If Amber even **looks** like she's going to launch a shadow ball, get as far out of the way as possible. Run to the sides around her if you need to. Swampert, prepare your mud shot attacks. Do not use water attacks. Jess, don't get too close unless you absolutely have to, and be quick about it. Shulk, if you can get a vision going, that would be great."

Amber was surrounded. "Sorry about this." I apologized to the trembling eevee.

I approached her and swung my tail, making it shine in the light of the sun as it became a metal blade. I heard the clang, checking back to see that Amber had intercepted with her own iron tail.

I realized we could be doomed when I realized that the very tip of her tail, with basically no leverage, had stopped my full-powered strike cold. I could **feel** the energy building around her mouth, it was so volatile. I leapt straight up to avoid the swirling shadow ball, which sailed towards the stands and struck the ground nearby the beginning of the stands. The explosion shook the entire arena.

I landed and traded a few slashes with Amber with our iron tail techniques, and then I had to keep running. Shulk darted in, and kicked at Amber with the express purpose of bouncing a decent distance away, and closed his left eye.

Jess distracted the eevee by ignoring my idea and punching Amber straight in the face, sending her flying, and she was smashed into the ground by Swampert's strength attack, where Jess tossed her over her shoulder into the ground by her front paws. This was brutal, but if we didn't, we had no idea what Amber would do.

Well, Shulk did. I looked at him, and his eyes widened in utter fear and panic. My own eyes widened. "Attack!" i ordered, before Amber raised her head to the sky after rolling away from jess (she looked uninjured at all from the powerful attacks), and she forced her head downwards with what I saw was a condensed shadow ball in her mouth. It hit the ground, there was a massive eruption of earth and an incredibly loud **BOOM** , and everything went black.

* * *

 **Caleb's POV**

Amber's desperation move left me speechless. She was in tears next to me, waiting for Jake and the others to be healed. Meanwhile… I cannot express my shock. I had known that the mostly pacifist eevee had power, but **this** …

"I didn't want to cause that much damage, honest!" Amber shouted once Jake and his team made it, confused as to what had happened. They hadn't looked at the field yet. They hadn't looked at **us** yet.

"Hey, you won." Jake waved his arms. "You should be happy, and I'm happy for you!"

"Amber." I tried to sooth her "It is all right. The damage can be fixed, no matter how long it takes."

"B-but…" she whispered "I destroyed…."

I was terrified, I will admit. That they had called it a day and they were going to set people on rebuilding the magical wards that had shattered. And the arena. And a lot of other things. Several pokemon in the front rows were being healed right now.

Jake finally took in that I was very much covered in dust and soot, as was everybody but Amber. He looked out over the display of power as a reflex, and his breath caught for obvious reasons. Because the entire arena had been replaced by a crater, and several parts of the stands had not been spared because the magic barrier simply could not handle the force.

"I didn't mean to…" Amber murmured "Everyone's going to call me a freak again."

I froze. Is **this** why she was unpopular in her old home? Because her power was too great for her to properly control? As if her lack of control was any excuse to ridicule her? "Don't." I said simply, causing the eevee to look me in the eyes. "Don't you dare. You will be **fine**. I will make certain of it. As will your teammates. You have everyone here to back you up, and don't you forget that."

Amber was surprised by my outburst. Everyone was. They were further surprised when I scolded others who approached with angry looks on their faces about the interruption. I did not care. Amber was not at fault. If her energy was uncontrollable, then so be it. We were pokemon. Jake survived a blast that large without anything even remotely resembling permanent injury. He almost looked better than he had when he went in there, though the healing likely had something to do with it.

Meanwhile, I had to plan for that boulder trick pulled by Erza.

Amber and her team stayed with me when we went home for the day. When it came time for the movie that night, I took the stage.

"Well, hello." I greeted everyone. "As you know today was particularly exciting. No muttering please, I am **talking**."

My sudden undertone of 'listen to me now' shut the room up. That was good. "Many of you have expressed, and are expressing anger in the direction of a friend of mine." I began, causing a large number of the people present to shiver. An angry Caleb was a Caleb that nobody wanted to mess with, and they knew it.

I began to elaborate. "There have been mutterings all day in regards to what I must remind you all was a mistake. An accident. My friend used more power than she intended to in defending herself against a team of more of my friends."

"I am absolutely certain that we can be civil here. As long as I have been here in this world, most aspects of this world have given me impressions of peace, prosperity, fun and games, and connections. There have been stories that I have heard, stories of some, very few, but some, among you that are mistreated, scorned even, for things that are entirely irrelevant, and unacceptable. Things such as color, or mistakes."

"I can understand not being happy with a mistake, in my world. But this world is a world were that damage can be repaired overnight. It shocks me. **Shocks** me that so many are holding on to that mistake while the damage is roughly ninety percent fixed already. Each round is shorter than the last, to the point where we can now accomplish the last portions of the latest round **and** the next before two o'clock in the afternoon."

"So I implore you: Do not be angered over a mistake, or any future mistakes like it. Focus your disdain for true problems, true issues that are irreversible or truly time consuming to fix. Instead, treat Amber, and Sarah, and other people who you consider different, as your friends and allies in life, as we all already are to each other."

I glared down at the group in front of me. "I do not wish to see Amber, or anyone I know treated poorly."

Goldeneye showed me the magic sphere apparition that I had requested she use, and according to plan, she sent the 'recording' to be heard by just about everyone, which also happened to include her warning everybody that they were about to receive a message.

Amber's eyes were wide. She had not known what I was about to do, but it was extremely effective. Then she got tears in her eyes. I wondered why she was doing that; she could either be happy or unhappy with me.

So I got on with today's movie and then told Amber, who was not keen on watching the movie (she did not like violence much at all, which I could understand), that I wished to speak with her. In private.

She agreed. Sarah would follow, I knew, but she could hold herself back long enough for me to discuss more private matters.

I stopped once we were alone in the crossroads. "Are you frustrated with my actions?" I asked well before I turned around to meet her eyes. The eevee was startled by my question.

"W-why would I be angry with you?"

"Because I put you in the spotlight. Because I have spoken of many things about you to people that we do not know as well as I might like to, such as the odd absol-like creatures that reminded me so much of the children in my dream. Because my actions have drawn further attention to you, even more so than when you blasted apart the arena, despite the fact that if I have done my job correctly, much of that attention should be more positive." I explained bluntly "Are you angry with me?"

"Wha-... No!" she exclaimed. "No! Never! You've done all of this, not a single bit of it necessary, for me, for no reason! You could have just ignored me, or been afraid of me... " Amber teared up somewhat again. I was shocked that she was crying over **me**. Just because I did something nice? Because I consider it my job to help others without regard to myself?

"You help me and you help me and you keep helping me and you help **everyone** and you don't have to do a thing!" Amber exclaimed "Why!?"

I faced away from her, hiding my expression. Why do I help people for no reason, go out of my way to do for others what I will not do for myself? Did I actually know the answer to that question, well and truly? The truth was not a happy truth. "...I believe I do it because that is what I have always done, all of my life." I admitted "It is nearly habitual, even at my own expense."

Amber did not have a response to that.

"Do you have limits, Amber?" I asked, turning to the girl. I needed to know. After the stadium, I needed to understand what kind of power I should be prepared for. "This can be just between the two of us, and I suppose your teammates know."

Amber looked away. She was clearly experiencing an internal conflict. I kept my face passive unemotional, as I do. Finally, she whispered "...No…"

I waited.

"I mean, I have to stay at a certain speed to avoid tripping and falling, and I can't control it, but…" she whispered.

Still I waited.

Finally she looked me in the eyes. "What do I do, Caleb? I don't understand." she began to tear up again. "I don't understand how I can avoid hurting people… And the damage was so bad that you went out of your way to **lie** about Jake's condition!"

I stiffened. Amber would know, I suppose. Jake had been at ground zero of an explosionthat had ripped apart the arena. He and his team had suffered some bigger gashes and Jake even had his tail severed, while Shulk early lost an arm. They were easily healed by the healing team, but…

"Yes." I whispered "I did lie."

"You don't ever lie, Caleb. Why now?" she asked "Just for me? You, and Jake, both hid that for what?"

"I lie a lot." I refuted, exaggerating somewhat. She knew I was exaggerating by the look on her face, but… "I lie when i need to. When speaking the truth can only cause more pain. Jake… He agreed on the way back that the damage should be downplayed. Pokemon can survive that kind of thing. We are a species of survivors. The only reason that dark force that… Forced Daemyn and I to hurt the others and succeeded was that that darkness seemed to eat away at life, or at least made us weaker. It was so much easier to be injured during that battle, as I was told by my friends after everything… Happened."

Amber was quiet again. "Will you be honest with me if I ask you something?" she asked. I blinked.

"Amber…"

"Because Phase and Shift left me some things when they left my dream last night. One of them was this magic doll thing that took my shape when I touched it, and kept shifting when I did because I was human before or something… The human doll had long brown hair and… Well, the skin was odd."

I looked at her. "Odd in what way?"

"it was mostly tan, but it had dark spots and lines, and a few were red." Amber told me "Like, along my arms and on my face, though the rest of the doll had clothing on it… What is that?"

I froze. I stared at Amber, thinking through all of the ways she has been different. Lack of limits aside, the eevee had some sort of personality disorder that was similar to having multiple personalities, but her memories were not different between personalities and the change was triggered by simply speaking to others, and I **couldn't** understand her. I had no idea who I was truly talking to, but I now had an idea, and that idea… "No." I said, my eyes shadowed over "No, I will not be honest with you."

Amber's eyes widened. "But Caleb!"

"No." I said again "Amber, if my hypothesis is correct, it could only cause you more pain to know. Amber, I hate to see others in pain. Well and truly hate it. It is a horrible thing to experience when others are in pain. I feel pain when they do, do you understand?"

"No." she said, and I was nonplussed. "Tell me anyways. I'm already in pain. Might as well get it over with."

 _When she is in pain, she begins to grow more assertive, demanding, independent of her constantly shifting personality. Why can I not comprehend her?_

I flinched, knowing that Amber would not let this go. I closed my eyes, hating myself. "They…. Could be scars." I said slowly "Please don't ask me to tell you more. Please."

"...Scars? As in wounds that never healed properly?"

"..." I did not say a word for a while. Even with my eyes closed, I sensed everything around me, like Amber backing up away from me, and Sarah approaching from the cafe and trying to be stealthy, and Amber's team also on standby…

"Oh… I'm sorry, Caleb…" Amber murmured "I made you say it. Please don't feel bad!"

"I could have refused." I replied simply "But that seems to be something that I am incapable of, eh? I cannot straight up say no, can I? I can't force myself to hold back information if people well and truly want it, I cannot tell Sarah off directly when she needs to calm herself, though I greatly appreciate her efforts… I cannot say 'no' easily."

This conversation was going very badly. Amber, now without limits as an eevee, who receives next to no damage from intense attacks, if not zero damage whatsoever… Whose old form had scars? Along her arms and face?

And here I was, blubbering about how I could not bring myself to say no to others who are asking for help, even if that help would be painful. How pitiful of me. Amber is who matters. Not me. I need to be focusing on Amber.

I cut myself off. "I must apologize." I said, Erza thankfully not interrupting this time. "I have no place complaining about my own misfortunes. If you really wish to know, I am afraid I do not know the true origin of your scars when you were human, I have a very good idea, and… If there are both scars that are lines, and scars that appear as little spots…" I trailed off again.

Amber shook her head. "No… I know. You don't have to keep hurting yourself by answering that question. You want to help, and you knew that it wouldn't help me one bit. I get that."

"A-Amber…"

I had just **stammered**. I was starting to lose it over this?

"And you were right." Amber continued, lowering her gaze. "I didn't need to know, and it didn't help, and it doesn't explain a single thing…"

"I am sorry, Amber." I spoke up "I do not understand what makes you different, why you are unique and powerful. I cannot find an explanation. i have identified part of my problem; I legitimately have no way to help you other than comfort you, because I do not truly understand your conditions, your loss of memory, lack of limits, and inexplicable personality. I simply do not understand."

Amber started crying again. I did not know what to do. I could comfort her, but I needed to wait until she would be willing to be comforted. I sat and I began to wait.

Eventually, I felt as if her sobs were subsiding. I walked up to her, putting my paw on her shoulder. "Amber, listen to me." I commanded in a soft tone. She stilled a little bit, evidently waiting. "We all support you. Every one of us are willing to help if you need it. None of us are going to abandon you, and none of us are going to insult you or ridicule you. You have a large group of friends who are perfectly willing to stand up for you, and now most of the entire known world knows it. Amber, you are going to be okay. You're going to be fine. Maybe everything was harsh, and maybe everything was bad, but now it can be good for everyone."

She eventually quieted, pushing forwards slightly to put some weight on my paw. Suddenly, she lunged and pulled me into a hug of sorts. She was thanking me, while I was stiff as a chunk of metal. I was not exactly a huggy person.

But then she was off of me and apologizing again, having felt me go stiff. I told her not to worry about it, as I reacted like that when I am hugged period. "I'm working on it." I said, before turning around. "I need some solitude." I continued "Your teammates are watching from the bushes to your left."

I simply walked off then, trying my hardest not to try and analyze the situation. I needed some proper quiet. Sarah of course was following me, and I needed to be left alone, so I suddenly moved in a quick, spastic pattern before exiting her known range for her mental map and her absol sense. The girl would not find me for at least an hour, considering the distance I was going.

* * *

❊ **Amber's POV ❊**

What the heck is wrong with me? So many things apparently. Sitting at the entrance to the field, two days later, with the tournament having continued. I had hurt Caleb bad, and I saw it. He looked so pained as he told me what was not in my best interests to tell me, and I had **made** him do it…

Caleb always was quiet, but now he was even more so. Sarah was tenser, as if she's been holding back her attachment to Caleb for a long time. Erza kept her flail handy, as if Caleb was prone to start apologizing to **somebody** at any second. I had destabilized everything because I had stressed Caleb out.

 _He holds everything together…_

But Daemyn, he was down in the fully restored arena. It had been rebuilt without complaint, and a lot of people were being really nice to me…

Daemyn's opponent was Wigglytuff. So far, most of the guildmasters had successfully made it this far in the tournament, having the power to back things up. The danger with Wigglytuff was his hyper voice and his dreaded sing attack.

Daemyn's shadow ball would not affect Wigglytuff, but when the guildmaster opened his mouth to sing, he got one straight into his mouth, which detonated without effect yet at the same time filled his mouth with smoke.

"Nothing but net." Jake said appreciatively. My mind felt a jolt at the phrasing, but I knew that Jake didn't know how he knew it either.

Wigglytuff began coughing up smoke, his singing voice definitely impaired for the match. Daemyn activated a quick attack and darted around the guildmaster while said guildmaster unleashed a hyper voice and actually managed to affect the high intensity flash cannon coming his way, deflecting it slightly enough for the light based attack to singe his ear.

Wigglytuff had not gotten serious yet. He typically would play around and be cheery until he got hurt enough, at which point he would make stuff explode and start using hyper voice on **everything**.

"How does one even deflect a beam made of light?" Caleb asked, his fiftieth complaint regarding the laws of physics in the last hour. He had ignored the others telling him to ignore that kind of thing today, and actually seemed to be distracting himself by doing it.

When Wigglytuff was forced to get serious within two minutes, we knew that the guildmaster was going to lose. He had three opponents who were all quite powerful and knew his patterns, as Caleb had told them. Most of the other teams had failed in the tournament because they hadn't done their homework. While Caleb was willingly, possibly even happily, doing all of our homework for us.

But that was hardly important. Daemyn beat Wigglytuff, Erza beat some random team that was tough but not fast enough, My teammates defeated the other team with little effort, but the next day, as Caleb predicted we would start having to fight each other, Erza was called up. Against me.

Erza knew, from the look on her face, that she had lost. She was determined to try, but I was saddened that Erza knew that she was going to lose. I knew it because of the shivering I saw, that she barely hid.

"I'm sorry…" I whispered as we went to the arena. I half considered throwing this away, but… Erza and her Tangela were all grass types. I had Charizard and Magnezone… And Absol was quick… I wouldn't have to fight at all.

The battle was not long lived. ERza charged Absol, and quickly knocked him out with a full powered swing of her flail, but Absol had already thought ahead and launched a psycho cut in the direction that the tangela had been trying to flee from Charizard, who was faster on his wings. Erza watched her tangela get knocked out within seconds of each other, and I saw her face fall a little. The tangela could be strong with their vines, but Erza held all of the physical strength and endurance on her team.

Like I had been days before, Erza was surrounded by powerful opponents. Unlike me, she did not have the sheer power to back it up. I was honestly hoping that she would be able to pull some sort of impressive victory over my teammates, and maybe I would have pretended to be unconscious or something. At the same time, I thought of how disappointed Caleb would be. The guy acted like he was my dad or something at times, the way he tried to help me move on from things I did not like.

He treated me better than I felt I deserved, I thought as I watched Erza try to fend off Charizard and only able to outspeed him while unable to last forever against them. I stood alone on the ground, just watching. I'm sure Erza understood. Caleb promised me that they would.

She skidded up next to me five minutes later, panting. She looked over her shoulder at me, and smiled. **Smiled**. As if she was happy enough now. She wasn't shivering any longer. She was smiling. At me. As if I deserved a smile for the effort I hadn't put in.

She went back to her running, irritating my teammates with basically ineffective magical leaf attacks and occasionally getting close enough to hit Charizard with her flail, and she lasted a solid twenty minutes before she was panting hard. To her credit, my best friend Charizard looked pretty banged up. He finally got to strike her with a flamethrower, downing the exhausted servine.

I took no joy in being declared the victor.

The other guildmasters were beginning to lose ground as the powerful teams that actually can defeat them stepped up to do just that. ninetales, and Goodra, and some others remained by the time Daemyn had to fight one of us again. My eyes widened considerable after hearing the next words. " **TEAM RUSH VERSUS TEAM EDGE!** "

The crowd was cheering. Daemyn and Caleb sent each other smiles, wishing each other luck. I watched them go down there, thinking that if Caleb won, I was most likely to have to fight him. The concept was not something I wanted to entertain.

* * *

 **Caleb's POV**

"I have no doubts that you will try your hardest to defeat me." I ventured loudly.

"Absolutely." Daemyn responded just as loudly "I could be the one to take out the genius human who always has a plan!"

he grinned a toothy grin. "Why am I to resist that kind of temptation?"

I found myself smiling. My spirits have been lifting all day over time (complaining about the lack of physics in battles was oddly amusing to me. Perhaps because I was just embarrassing myself), and it might have to do with the fact that Erza had been obviously supportive of Amber and helping her when she needed to, and that Daemyn was willing to be involved in this little competition.

Not that I was not aware of most of the tricks he would use. Thing about him, is that both Erza and he know perfectly well that I would memorize and plan for everything I had seen them do. Which meant that they would absolutely have planned out something entirely new just for me.

"We will see something that Daemyn has not used yet." I warned them "Our priority is Daemyn, as he is the only one who can harm Shedinja to my knowledge, as Bastiodon specializes in steel type moves. Shedinja, guard against Bastiodon, but steer clear of Machoke to be safe. Sarah, occupy Machoke. I will engage in close combat with Daemyn, as neither my night slash or psycho cut will do much to him."

" **Shedinja**."

"No, I can't give you more detail than that. They will chose a technique that I have not seen them use before. However…" I responded, eyes boring into Daemyn's as I analyzed where his eyes were moving "He may use something that he picked up watching someone else. With thousands of others here, it is nearly impossible for there to not be something similar, even if it is unintentionally picked as a concept."

"At the same time," I continued "Our team is a team of glass cannons. The wrong flash cannon in the wrong place and both Sarah and I could be down. Shedinja, that is why blocking Bastiodon's attacks are so important. I will take a hit for Shedinja by Daemyn's shadow ball if I have to, and Sarah, I want you to ignore what someone else is doing to me until you have safely knocked out Machoke, who is slower and far less versatile than you are. You should have no trouble."

"Divide and conquer. I only like the conquer part." Sarah replied, inching closer to me.

"Too bad. Follow my orders, and we might succeed." I asserted, aware that if Sarah was going to go nuclear, we needed her to do it on Bastiodon, so if she uses a majority of her fire energy in the process, the deadliest enemy would be down. No, enemy was not the correct term at all. Competitive friends. That was what the two of our teams were.

" **BEGIN!** "

I rushed. So did Daemyn, but I skidded to a halt **immediately**. Daemyn and Machoke were running right next to each other, headed straight for me. "Change in plans." I said calmly "Blast them."

I dove out of the way, and Sarah forced the two to separate by launching fire at them. I darted my eyes around, seeing Shedinja get in the way of a flash cannon and effectively neutralizing it mostly, though I got hit with a couple stray beams. I immediately jumped into the shadow ball that Daemyn sent at Shedinja, absorbing it with my shadow claw. The dark type faced me, and Shedinja faced Bastiodon, but Shedinja and I were back to back.

Sarah was firing water pulses after Machoke constantly, but the fighting type's training allowed him to avoid the blue spheres. However, they were in fact occupied, as Machoke could not go anywhere without being further from his team or being hit.

"One on one?" Daemyn asked with a grin. I smiled and unsheathed my shadow claws, making them extend from my right forepaw to my side, my pad turned inwards. He grinned, and then he pulled out the attack I had not seen him used.

"You've been saving an attack that would be less effective against me for me?" I asked as the identical claws shimmered from his paw. His grin widened in response, and I couldn't help it. I chuckled. "Nicely done, Daemyn. That is funny as hell."

"Now, to battle!" he exclaimed, jumping forward and swinging his claws down at me. I parried, letting his claws slam into the ground next to me while I brought my claws back in the general direction of his face.

Our blades made humming sounds as they swiped through the air, slashing against each other sometimes, and when the blades would not hit us, they would go right through each other. I assume that due to the nature of ghost type moves, whether the user was in danger mattered when judging destructive power. I was told it was part of the 'soul'.

I tend to disbelieve the concept of such a thing as a soul, but I could accept that these ghost type pokemon had an eerie aura. I would not assume they were actually truly ghosts until I could properly analyze the energy and determine whether if follows any laws of physics or otherwise **at all**.

The blades coming from our claws made humming noises as we clashed, though there was the very eerie whining noise that they had as an undertone. Particularly when they were swung. The clashed with zapping sounds, and interlocked again, sliding down towards our paws.

I reared up and used another shadow claw, forcing Daemyn to do the same, putting us in a position where we were grappling on our hind paws while striking at each other. We had to push away to avoid an embarrassing collapse onto each other. Sarah **really** would not have liked that.

I rotated my blades, turning my pads downwards, and focused on a new shape for my shadow claw. The blades grew in width and bent downwards, in shapes not unlike my tail, though I added a bit of serrated edges for extra effect. Serrated weapons always do more damage as they rip things up.

Some might call me cruel. I would say that it finishes the fight quicker.

"Nice." Daemyn complimented me, impressed. The battle sounded around, implying that we were entirely ignoring the rest of the battle. My friend showed his own skill with manipulating the shape of his amorphous blades, building long thin blades with hooks on the end. He had more range, of course. I would not change up my technique, however.

I heard the crowd cheering as we jumped to strike again. We were only using one paw so that we could actually move around in an admittedly lopsided manner, Hopping about while attempting different techniques to try and play a mockery of swordplay. Claws are not swords, and having to balance on three paws, it can be tricky. This entire situation was pretty much for fun. Though repetitive, this could still be a show worth seeing.

 _As close to swordplay as I will ever get, and I am not using a sword._

We got close, our claws holding each other in place, and I began to push Daemyn back. "You should not have informed me that your ability was moxie rather than the intimidate ability you described." I told him as I forced him back. He was pushing to gain ground but as a result he was forced onto his hind paws and then onto his back while I pushed both his blades and mine closer to his face.

"Wouldn't have done me much good if you were oblivious to the ability anyways." he replied, seming to realize that this was the point where I scored a hit.

Unless, of course, I jumped away and dismissed my shadow claws. "Shall we fight with our true skills at this point?

My friend scrambled to his paws, looking surprised but generally happy.

"My pleasure." he said, and prepared himself. Daemyn was faster than I was. This I knew. His shadow balls were quick and not unlike bullets. Or cannonballs, more accurately. I stilled, closing my eyes, and waited.

Daemyn was circling me slowly. I could see him clearly in my mental map, through my absol senses. I did not move a muscle. I waited until he opened his mouth, and as soon as I felt the danger, I twisted my body to the side, my fur billowing from the black sphere's slipstream.

Daemyn muttered a complaint about absol senses and then used faint attack. His skills were impressive; he barely managed to hide from my mental map, but he was not hidden from my danger sense, and I could tell where the danger was.

Like I had taught Sarah, I waited until I felt danger, and twisted out of the way of three more strikes. Daemyn was wasting power and he knew it. I could avoid using ghostly energy with more shadow claws if I managed to avoid the shadow ball.

I knew Daemyn. Very well. I had a decent idea of what he would be doing. I could perhaps **predict** him. After his next strike, he would likely change direction and try to quickly fire more attacks at a faster rate to make the energy use have a point.

The invisible mightyena received a night slash to the face when I next avoided his shadow ball, becoming visible very quickly and tumbling away. Unlike myself, however, he could not even remotely be described as a glass cannon. He stood up quickly, and decided to change tactics.

I predicted his wild charge using quick attack. I did **not** predict that fire would be involved. My eyes widened and I **barely** escaped his jaws, which were quite suddenly engulfed in flames.

"No thank you!" I exclaimed from five yards away. Daemyn's fire trick faded out as I asked "How exactly is that good for your health?"

the mightyena coughed out smoke. "It's not." Daemyn replied "But it works."

"And you don't like it when **I** do self destructive things." I muttered "Hypocrite."

"Guilty as charged." Daemyn agreed, rushing at me again with his teeth legitimately burning. I suppose that having to cough out a little smoke could not be very self destructive compared to some of **my** actions, but smoke comes from somewhere, meaning he was burning himself slightly doing this. Or fire worked differently. It shouldn't have been that.

I built my slash attacks and my shadow claw at the same time. Daemyn generated a shadow claw and slammed into mine, his momentum bringing his jaws dangerously close to my throat. I prepared to swing with my slash attack, but Daemyn's fire went out, and danger soared through my senses.

"See ya." he grunted, and unleashed a shadow ball that spread out into a hundred small spheres that I recognized instantly as the concept for a shotgun. Now **I** was not happy with myself for telling this guy what a shotgun was, as I felt pain explode over me, my attacks dispersing, and me flying through the air before striking the ground and tumbling uncontrollably.

 _Ow. Ow. I was just nearly taken down in one shot._

I was on my back and Daemyn was suddenly above me. He prepared another shadow shotgun, saying "sorry about this."

I got an idea. A mad, self-destructive, stupid idea, and I decided to go through with it. Why not? I wanted to win this match. Daemyn saw my horn flickering with conflicting normal type energy and dark type energy as I tried once more to combine my slash and night slash at the same time. "On the topic of self-destructive tendencies-" I ventured.

I saw Machoke fall to Sarah in the background, and Daemyn tried to escape, but it was far, far too late for the both of us. "Son of a-" Daemyn yelped before we both exploded in a large and violent eruption.

I blacked out after registering that I was buried underground. I knew that Sarah and Shedinja would be fine.

* * *

"Morning, Caleb." Sarah woke me up in the room with the healers. She was smiling brightly, and it was either because she had found an excuse to be extremely close to me while I was asleep, and decided to wake me up when she was set up to be right in my field of view when I awoke, or we had won. Or both.

"I can't believe that Daemyn did that to you." Sarah grumbled after I had gotten up, careful not to make physical contact with the female absol. "I saw the explosion, and he was knocked out too. Once we get out of here I'm going to tease him to no end for knocking himself out.

"Actually." I grunted "I did that. I generated that mix of energy and blew the both of us up with as much destructive force as I could manage."

Sarah blinked. Then she smiled. "I think I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that just to that Daemyn can stammer about it when I mess with him." she decided, walking off. What was with her? Was she satisfied with having been so close to me for a while? How long did it take for her to wake me up? Did she do anything like kiss me when I was asleep? I hoped not.

"Let's get going." I offered, and then they sent us over back where we were supposed to be sitting.

Daemyn greeted me with a clap on the back with his paw. "Bloody kamikaze." he said "You had that trump card since the beginning, and you chose to use it when I had you on your back."

I chuckled. "Always have a backup plan. By the way, that shadow shotgun was impressive. Extremely impressive. And ingenious."

"Thanks. Well, I'll leave before Sarah does something dumb like call me out on your nonsense." Daemyn replied.

I grinned. "Get out of here, then." I cuffed him in the shoulder with my paw, like clapping somebody's back in a way. He booked it back to his seat next to ninetales ( _hmm…_ ) and Sarah huffed in exasperation. She made sure to sit next to me of course, while everybody else congratulated me.

This was competitive spirit, something I tended to avoid. I felt it now, of course, and it felt really good. It felt like self indulgence. Self indulgence has been the equivalent of a crime in my mind for a long time, but sitting alongside my friends, I found myself having trouble dissuading myself for feeling proud of my accomplishment, blasting Daemyn high into the sky, unconscious. Mixing elements in a single attack never goes well. Ever. As I just demonstrated.

Daemyn, Erza, Jake and just about everyone else we knew were out of the battle. But now, I heard the matchup that could prove to be a hassle. Redmund and his team… Against Singe and Twilight.

Blutarch shifted somewhat uncomfortably as his brother watched Singe talk up Vulnona while Twilight was keeping herself out of it. She too shifted uncomfortably. I knew that Singe would lose. Redmund was strong. And his teammate was a blastoise. Alongside these things, he had family ties with three out of four of his teammates, whereas Twilight and Singe had been disjointed, I suspected ever since the arcanine became intent on stealing Vulnona, an impossible task.

I would spare others the details of what Singe was talking about. Wagers and some such nonsense that you would see in a story. The point was that Singe charged recklessly as he typically does in battle, which worked against any opponents that were **not** prepared for it. He was blasted back by enough water to sink a battleship. It was probably cold water, which I gathered from him whimpering. Fire aura reacts poorly to the very presence of water, and that energy is predominant in fire types. Thus, Water weakens them, and due to the fact that the type auras are a major component of a pokemon's defenses, water makes it easier to harm fire types, dropping their physical defense.

I was glad to have figured out that tidbit of pokemon science. Battle was not deadly because of that energy, all types of it. Energy coalescing into the skin of every pokemon, like ethereal armor. As far as I understood it, it all focused into their skin at once when the pokemon becomes unconscious, making the skin even more difficult to break, which could save a pokemon from nearly anything.

now I had to know what that energy actually was, and what other applications it had.

I was getting off track. Seeing Twilight try to help Singe up and only getting herself blasted by some water next. This battle was a mockery of a fight, and I felt severely sorry for Twilight that the girl put herself through so much for Singe to get basically nothing in return. It was a bit too much like me for me to be comfortable watching it.

When the battle was declared over, I made a note to have Sarah speak with Twilight. The two seemed to get along. And it would free up my evening slightly. That being said, the days were flying by nowadays, the events being repetitive.

But the next day, things really came to a head. My team and I were called to battle ninetales. My eye widened. ninetales was not an opponent to be taken lightly. I had a plan, but I was legitimately uncertain whether it would work against the ninetales, who has not moved an inch.

If we won this battle, I could help Amber. If we could win this, we could win almost every other situation. ninetales stood between me and utter victory. Or sat, how she did in combat. The fact that she had gotten so incredibly far in this tournament without moving a muscle was impressive. The girl needed some sort of magical transport that she could use to travel without moving a muscle as well. It would complete the image.

On the other hand, if she sat for her entire life, she would probably tire of it and her muscles would atrophy. If they did do so for pokemon at all.

This went through my mind as we faced her on the field. I knew of her fire's range. Shedinja would act as Sarah's shield. I would stay behind Sarah, and the two of us would try to stay behind Shedinja as much as possible, approaching until we could attack. Shedinja would fade straight out of existence when Ninetales launched her fire, and we should be close enough for me to rush in and start striking with as many powerful moves as possible.

We got into position as quickly as possible while Ninetales charged her nine shot worthy hyper beam in her tails. When we were told to behind, we simply started to walk forward. I had done some simple math; our distance had to grow proportionately closer to Shedinja at a certain rate so that we would continue to be properly hidden by Shedinja.

ninetales used flames in a shorter, more widespread range. This was to counteract the fact that her solarbeam and hyper beams were explosive and long range.

The fact that her solarbeam was designed as an explosive attack rather than a widespread destruction ray that burned things more than caused explosions due to the wider spread of the same amount of energy.

ninetales waited for us. Her drought ability entirely active. My fur was **far** too thick for this weather, and at least once a day I dealt with it. If I won, that wouldn't happen again. I could not see her face (which was part of the point), but her forepaws shifted slightly, as if she was uncomfortable. She would be, considering I was in control of this battle unless she decided to move.

She did not. The queen waited until we were in range, and then fired. Shedinja was gone fast enough not to be burned, and Sarah dove to my left and shot a water pulse into the spheres of hyper beam energy at the tip of Ninetales' center tail. It connected because I had occupied the ninetales' attention with a night slash that would have hit her directly, so she was too busy blasting **it** to bother with dealing with Sarah's water pulse that should have missed.

However, the explosion travelled along the volatile spheres that Ninetales had held intact with her mind. She was simply not equipped for close combat against faster opponents. She had to move, or she would lose.

She jumped out of the way, as I had predicted. Once in the air, one cannot change their own trajectory. At least, not if you had no wings or other things to do so, I suppose. ninetales, however, had one path to go on, and that was directly into Sarah's next water pulse that she had fired in front of the ninetales.

Having been the first in the tournament to make ninetales move, we received quite the reaction from those in the stands. We mattered. Team Edge really mattered, and with that, they would listen.

I cast away those thoughts. Being distracted would cause pointless conflict in our chances for success. ninetales did not have any instantaneous beams left and to generate more would take more time than she had. She quickly generated a solarbeam, but Shedinja appeared and blocked it easily.

It became a game of calculations for me. Sarah kept Ninetales on her toes with water pulses, but I had to be a specific distance from her to be protected by shedinja, but also able to hit her with faster attacks. Psycho cut and night slashes were interchangeable. As a dark type, I had more natural dark type energy, so I could use night slash more than I could psycho cut. Not that that was relevant.

ninetales changed tactics, which I knew would have to happen eventually. Someone as intelligent as the queen would have some form of backup plan that I had not seen yet. My planning for this fight at this point was plan for basically everything a ninetales is physically capable of doing. Which was a lot, but after asking around, investigating, I discovered plenty of techniques a ninetales will commonly have.

Such as the somersault she was doing directly at me while wreathed in flames. I hear flame wheel is painful. As such, I took the necessary steps to avoid it, such as **not** being in the way when she got to me.

It turns out that flame wheel is a little like rollout, in which the user can change directions. Even pelted by water pulses, I was promptly run over like roadkill and flattened. I wondered how many humans have been run over by flaming cars. That was what it felt like, with the exception that I obviously survived.

 _Ow. Ow. Ow._

I managed to stop tumbling, digging my claws into the dirt and retaliating with a night slash that scored a direct hit due to my proximity to her. She was very tough, I will give her that, to withstand such a large number of my attacks, she must be one of the most powerful individual pokemon.

There had been rumors that she could take on legendary pokemon alone, after all. I moved to attack again, and stumbled. Why? Because my legs were not working properly.

 _No! She cursed me!_

She had somehow managed to put a curse on me when she ran me over with her flame wheel. Her tails must have touched me. When I tried to move my right forepaw, my left hind paw moved. My left forepaw and right hind paw were likewise swapped.

"Sarah, distract her!" I yelped, having been caught off guard. She had not used her curses in combat yet. I was not accustomed to them, and while I had planned for it, she had hidden the debilitating curse behind an entirely unrelated attack. I had **missed** it.

She jumped away from a water pulse and landed right next to me, and prepared to unleash a firey torrent upon me.

 _When in doubt, full reverse._

I made the same motion with all of my paws, leaping backwards as much as I could. I would have to hop around like an idiot, but I could still move. My speed was drastically lowered. I hopped back several more times, and focused on the feeling I was getting.

 _If I move like this, this happens instead…_

Sarah cut off Ninetales with a large flamethrower to keep her from chasing me down. Shedinja had started hurling shadow balls from a great distance, some of which clipped Ninetales. I saw her panting. despite everything, unless she got serious, we were in good shape.

She got serious.

The ninetales suddenly blasted forward, coated in fire, directly at Sarah. That speed was astonishing. Sarah was struck in **seconds** , flying away and tumbling to a stop on the ground.

I finally calculated what I needed to do. I moved my legs in what should have been an unorthodox pattern, but had me moving normally. I had re-learned how to walk and run.

I caught up to the panting ninetales, and thrust a psycho cut at her. I watched her rear up on her hind legs to avoid the attack she could not dodge otherwise, and then she had to push herself further back to avoid being struck in the face by Sarah's water pulse. She gave a grunt when she landed on her back, seeming to realize that she did not have time for that. Shedinja blasted her with a shadow ball, and I jumped right up to her and slashed at her.

Ninetales was forced to take the hit, and the next, and then she was being bombarded by all of our attacks, and finally Shedinja made use of his new solarbeam technique, as Sarah and I jumped away. The explosive beam struck home and enveloped the fire type in an explosion. The type matchup may be poor, but it did the trick.

 _Defeated by her own ability._

Except that a pair of glowing eyes emerged from the smoke rising from her position. I yelped and jumped away to avoid the solarbeam that annihilated the place that I had been standing. She was still up? What was happening?

She barreled out of the smoke, determination flattening the expression on her face into a straight line, her lips pressed together. Her eyes were glowing, her pelt was burning, and she was faster than I could be. Her claws unsheathed, she lunged at me.

 _She knows that she cannot defeat the team unless I am defeated first, even knowing that Sarah would go nuclear if I am defeated, because I make the decisions. All of them. It would cripple the team if Sarah could not decide on a tactical use of her abilities. I have faith in her, but less so than either of us do in my own ability._

I reared up and generated two shadow claws, and a night slash, and even some dark energy for a bite attack. I felt my power drop quickly as I used a lot of both my ghost type and dark energy at once, but as she crashed into me, I drove my claws, and horn into her, managing to do a bit more damage with some of my teeth as an afterthought, but being reared up let her crash directly into my stomach with a flame charge.

We yelped as we rolled together on the ground, both of my teammates thankfully under a cease fire because I was right there. We were scratching and biting each other like a normal dogfight, though her fangs were coated in fire and my claws were covered in ghostly aura and I had a horn.

I was unfortunately distracted when I realized we had stopped rolling and that I was directly on top of her while trying to dig my claws into her, and I faltered as I realized how violent I was being. And the fact that I was on top of her as well, when I faltered.

She slammed me away, and we both stood shakily to our feet. "Impressive" she admitted "most impressive. I would ask you to explain why you faltered, but that is for another time. I do not intend to lose to you, Caleb. I can go for a while yet."

I couldn't. I knew it. I was at my limit, and I had used a lot of energy. However, Ninetales was lying. She was beginning to reach her limit. "Perhaps not." I admitted, drawing gasps from the audience "Perhaps I cannot defeat you… But Shedinja can."

Shedinja, who had been building as much energy into a solarbeam as was physically possible, as I had trained him mere days ago in how to recognize the limit for the attack, fired the giant green laser at the queen, powered by her drought ability that she never did deactivate, causing a massive explosion. I fell to my knees, uncaring that my nerves still seemed to be switched between my legs, and then I laid down, panting for breath.

I could sense with my absol abilities that she was staying down, and the smoke was clearing up, which would reveal a defeated Ninetales. We had won. Shedinja had tested the limits of his solarbeam for maximum effect when it was held and continued to charge. Any more and it could have violently exploded, but Shedinja would have been immune anyways.

I breathed out as Sarah came up to me. "You did it!" she cheered, lowering her head to give me a nuzzle. I literally did not have the energy to smack her into the dirt.

"Off." I commanded, the absol obeying pretty much immediately. I must have sounded very serious. I needed some rest. Even after the healing, I had used a lot of ghost energy and dark energy, to the point where my entire body ached from dark power overuse. I probably could have thrown more psycho cuts in there to balance the effect out.

Ninetales was extremely courteous and congratulatory for my technique. "Shedinja is a valuable partner." she commented as we made conversation. I smiled and nodded in agreement, and then nodded to Shedinja, showing my thanks.

"We would have lost in the fourth round without him, and many rounds since." I responded.

"We have some more battles to take care of." Ninetales turned to the field. "Of all of us that know each other, all that are left are you, team amber, and Shade. That girl truly does have a skill in illusions."

"If she were more civil, it would be easier to understand her and create conversation."

I nodded at Erza's statement. the stands were **still** cheering over that battle. "That is the first time I have had to move in battle since the last time I visited this tournament, and that day I was defeated by sheer size and strength and plenty of earth and rock type moves." Ninetales commented softly to me as the next contestants took the field. "I am glad that you defeated me through your intellect and power combined."

Sarah was paying close attention to the conversation, so she was probably not happy about what she heard next. "Can you explain to me why you faltered when you were on top of me and slashing your shadow claws across my chest?" she asked.

I grimaced. This was a bad place to be for that question. Especially because Daemyn and Erza were **right there** and they might not let me hear the end of it. Nevertheless, Ninetales deserved an answer. "Er…" I began "That was mostly due to a implication that is common around my old world, ah… Explaining it is difficult and embarrassing."

"Very well." Ninetales replied after I was done chickening out. I did **not** want to think about that. Even if it was no longer relevant and held no meaning here.

I sighed. Daemyn had seemed to discern that this was a **perfect** time for teasing me about feeling for her or some such nonsense. I don't feel for anyone. I never had, not without blasted instincts affecting my brain.

That's how I spent my night, actually. Daemyn having fun finding something that he could bother the impenetrable Caleb with. It was amusing, and to be honest, our friendship never faltered. He was teaching me to take it easy at times, and it did work, to a degree. I would sometimes joke during my free time, when I was not doing literally anything else that had to do with the future of the world…

Erza told me to take some stuff off of my shoulders, and I responded that I could not possibly do such a thing, because who else is qualified for this? Most of the psychic types that had high intelligence that I had met were somewhat apathetic towards the concept of educating everyone else.

I finally gained a humorous tone and told Daemyn off, before going straight to bed. I was still recovering some of my type aura.

But now things were truly going to become hectic. We were battling the best of the best, and we kept winning only because I planned days ahead constantly. I wondered how far I would have to go to batle and lose to Amber, revealing the rest of the secrets she was hiding and making her someone that the public would love as a result?

I needed to sleep on it. Amaterasu would help me with the notes, and… Phase and Shift would either be gone back where they came from or making life more difficult for everybody.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

 **Jango: And a long night it was indeed! you're stuck with me for a bit, Hyper's uh... Indisposed. he might be a bit, ah, slowed down in working on The Kitsune and the Jackal. Oh well, right? Feel free to give him crap about updating it later than he should be able to. I know I will!**

 **Angelica's annoying, as usual. It coulda waited, I know that much. I mean, I would have done the same thing with that kind of power, but still. Anyways, I've got unofficial A/N duty here. So now you know Amber's true capabilities, and the shenanigans around her, as well as the fact that the first part of the tournament is drawing to a close! Yes, a lot of those goofballs totally forgot about Gallade for a while there. Caleb thought ahead, of course.**

 **Anyways, I had better close this off before Amber comes back and finds Hyperjade and then me... That'll be a nightmare and a half. As is obligatory, go ahead and leave a review, hope you enjoyed, blah, blah, blah. Off you get, then! Hope you don't fall into any of the pitfalls I set for you! heheheh... on second thought, go ahead and fall into them. The ones with warning labels do contain spikes, but I technically warned you, so you can't come after me.**

 **Jango out!**


	16. Chapter Sixteen

**Alright, everybody! Let's wrap up the first round of this tournament!**

 **Jango: Plot points! Progression! Shenanigans!**

 **Me: Before we get to reviews, I have some things to mention. As I was writing this story, you have become increasingly aware of Amber's immense power. Those of you who have been reading up until the time that this has been uploaded, there is an ERROR.**

 **Jango: That's right, you lot, Hyper made an error. A big ol' error in transcribing the lives of these people.**

 **Me: In which I made Amber get injured by one of Erza's attacks. Obviously, this is minor, but unless there has been a technical error that I cannot see, I have tried to fix that.**

 **Jango: It's a bit underdone now, but technically correct.**

 **Amber: I hadn't even noticed when I looked through it, and I was there when it happened.**

 **Me: Anyways, that all aside, I have a great deal of pride in the battles during this chapter. Some things you saw coming. Other things, not so much, and I can guarantee that.**

 **Amber: I'll do the reviews since I'm the one that's not overly happy with myself at the moment. Here we go... What Lies Beyond: No, Ninetales from back home is still there. She does prefer solitude. Ninetales here is the queen-slash-guildmaster of the largest continent on our maps.**

 **Shedinja guarded against the hyper beam attacks and the solarbeam attacks. Ninetales never got to use fire on him.**

 **Uh.. West. Hi. My power is... What? What does that mean?**

 **Me: It's a reference to a show.**

 **Amber: Oohhh. Okay. And uh... Alger's in there again, trying to convince West that it's not that 'messy'. Phase and Shift are adorable little enigmas, huh?**

 **Nopemanor and Sylvie are here too. With... Some random shenanigans that I can't make sense of. Comments on explosives, the fact that Erza's a little flail happy, comments on Phase and Shift. Uh... Two solos. Gallade's around too. Gallade, Shade, Team Edge, and my team. Er... I hope you're all right over there.**

 **Zlaxe's here, and Arceus... What's this about an arm band? I don't remember that. If you're talking about MatPat after that...**

 **Me: I appreciate the work he puts in to put things together properly and build theories regarding any topic he takes on. I'm not the type to enjoy puns much, wincing whenever I put one in a story, but some find it funny, and who am I to find fault in him?**

 **Amber: Okay. Yeah... Sarah was having problems around then. She really tries. I'm not entirely sure what was wrong back then... These next battles won't be as quick as some of the last ones.**

 **Me: The attack is definitely muddy water. When I played Pokemon Emerald and used the attack, I'm (pretty) sure it was a water attack, and the animation was basically identical to surf just with brown water.**

 **Amber: Well... At least I'm not the only one to make people sleep when they need to using hypnosis...**

 **Jango: Oi, why you gotta brag about self-control? Amber could kick your-**

 **Amber: Shut-... Jango, Please.**

 **Jango: Fine.**

 **Amber: I think your magic spell to hide your words is a bit buggy, Arc...**

 **Jango: Really, really buggy. And that won't work for me.**

 **Me: Zero magic potential, that one.**

 **Amber: Hyper, you don't need to rub it in.**

 **Me: Right. Okay. Anyways, thank you two for reviewing. Zero lunar, zlaxe... Why is everyone tired while reviewing? Rest is important, people. Anyways, Zero lunar, thank you for reviewing.**

 **Amber: I will hold back, but just to avoid destroying everything again...**

 **Me: Thank you for noticing that error; I have made certain to find it and correct it. Took me like an hour, the sneaky little mistake, but I got it.**

 **For Phillip Harbindinger: Allow me to explain Keron's loss. First: Keron's attacks are reckless and sometimes predictable. Erza has very nicely put together moves, and as I made sure to note, Erza is faster than Keron even when Keron boosts his speed with dark magic. Having trained under Caleb, Erza had quite a bit planned by the time she heard 'begin'. This included the tangela twins keeping out of Snowshy's range, as well as Austburn, and basically occupy them. Keep them from bothering Erza during the battle. Erza, furthermore, ran far enough away and kept running so that the others could not keep up with them.**

 **Erza's words and actions, as well as her flowing style with her flail, should have put the red ringed umbreon on the defensive, but Keron kept attacking instead, getting banged up in the process. If you remember, what took Caleb out was Keron messing with his senses using dark magic, not the strike itself. His pawstrikes have the magical quality 'impact', meaning they do increased damage, but focus on knockback. Knockback alone was not going to hurt Erza.**

 **Keron did almost win, if you remember. His endurance, also boosted by magic, nearly trumped her energy reserves as Erza drained her element auras in battle. She stopped his more dangerous attacks by shutting down the surge of hate that he needed to launch those wicked flames. Then, observing, she saw how Keron's rune that he used to launch the fire differed from the rune in the balls of flame itself, and scratched up Keron's forehead rune to change the effects and burn him with his own power, defeating him.**

 **I established that Snowshy was very capable, yet she had a certain range in which her psychic attacks were more dangerous. Had the tangela twins not kept their distance, the battle would have been over for the two. When it came right down to it, when Erza defeated Snowshy with a flail, one she specifically filled with the last of her energy, more energy than normal, by detonating it, the battle was over. Austburn alone had not the speed to catch up to any of his opponents, and they did bury him under giant boulders.**

 **That's why they won. In real combat, with the right strategy, strength and type are meaningless. It was not about it being illogical.**

 **Jango: Ohh! I got Raven with a pitfall, and somebody else too, I think. Anyways, the shadow ball nuke was glorious, I agree.**

 **Amber: I was just trying to make a smokescreen or something to get away, and I used a bit too much power...**

 **Jango: As I said, glorious.**

 **Me: *sighs* I don't remember which scene you're talking about with Caleb mentioning Sarah and Alger. As for Caleb in the omniscient POV, how the others referred to Caleb provide the clue as to What situation that one is in. To answer your question about Amber, Jake did not know of her true potential, and when Erza came across the team, she knew it was a lost cause because they really could only run. They tried to fight, of course. Yes, Caleb can tolerate a lot of stuff. And he's a genius who learns quickly. If he ever wound up in smash bros, one gimmick would be that that effect would be a lot shorter.**

 **I think that's finally it for reviews. Everything said and done, please enjoy the chapter. Start!**

* * *

 **Chapter 16: To Defeat a Genius…**

 **Sarah's POV**

 **Fwooosh!**

"Again!"

I huffed in exhaustion and launched another flamethrower at the target. "Again!" I was obedient. "Again!" I was tired. "Again!" was the only word I had heard for like five minutes.

Why was Caleb working my flames so roughly? I was, as instructed, using my very plentiful flames in the least energy efficient way possible. Each burst left me feeling weaker until I finally lost the rest of my fire and only spit out sparks.

"How do you feel?" Caleb asked me as he walked up. I huffed, panted. I couldn't get irritated at the guy; I was getting worse again. Trying to hold myself back was becoming an actual pain. Like I was dying if I wasn't as close as possible to him…

"I feel like collapsing…" I groaned, before promptly doing so onto the dirt, my face smashing into the tiny stones that littered the ground around me.

"Your energy is primarily fire type energy, you said." Caleb reminded me without moving a muscle.

"Yyyep," I responded through the dirt.

"You're wrong."

I brought up my head and looked at him. "What?"

"I said that you are incorrect," he stated "Because that is not the way that a pokemon's aura works. It is your most powerful aura, your most trained aura, but I sense an equal amount of each element in you. You've grown accustomed to subsisting only on your fire aura, and while this does allow you to basically go nuclear, to use the term nuclear incorrectly, the fact that you do not keep your other elements pouring strength into your limbs leaves you weak the moment you are out of fire."

I struggled to my paws. "...What do you want me to do?" I asked. I would do anything. And my eyes definitely showed it. Caleb sighed at me.

"I want you to use your absol senses and detect the rest of your energies," he instructed me. I quickly closed my eyes, feeling the rushing force of the water element, which was also trained to a degree and was stronger, and was secondary to my fire element.

As soon as I looked at it, I realized that it was kind of… Weird. The rest of my elements were not around my skin; they were pushed back, deeper into my body. I really had never looked at my type auras properly. Maybe Caleb had a point. But how did he know that this was the problem?

 _He's a genius. Duh._

I knew that I could control that energy. But it was… Difficult to do so. I tried to bring out my water aura and wind aura, as they had grown some from my use of razor wind and water pulse. I found it difficult to release.

"You could only truly detect your fire aura on this kind of level when you had that energy available," Caleb explained "As a direct result, your other elements are basically invisible. I want you to try and fuse these auras, specifically the ones you use more often. Painful as it might be, it might elevate your water and wind elemental attacks massively to have them available directly under the skin. While some of your type auras are in their proper places, like your ghost energy in your claws. But other elements… Your energy is very unique. this is likely why you have an affinity for long ranged attacks rather than physical strength."

I focused my mind. The energy within me started moving slightly, and I felt a jab of pain in my body as the energy began to refuse to move. I gasped in pain, and Caleb's eyes widened. "Are you all right, Sarah?" he asked, and I let him support me, enjoying his presence even while I winced.

"...Yeah…" I muttered, "I didn't expect it to resist like that."

He frowned worriedly. "For us to get as far as we need to to face Amber in the tournament, and that likely will mean facing either Gallade or Shade because I have no faith in my luck, we need some extra firepower in your other elements. Our enemies will only get tougher. Sarah, if you can do this, it is very important that you do."

I smiled determinedly. I met his eyes, holding eye contact, and he held it back evenly. I would do anything for my genius love interest. **Anything**. I focused on my energy, gritting my teeth as I began to force it forward, getting a similar feeling as I had when I was trying to force ghost type energy through my legs, that burning feeling, except I was doing it with much more powerful elements. Elements I had already boosted with full training.

"Ow… Ow…" I muttered as my body felt like it was burning up inside. Caleb stepped back and let me handle what I was doing. My energy fluctuated, twisting in my body and expanding, and I didn't know what was going to happen when I succeeded.

Still I forced it forward, accepting that it was painful and ignoring that pain. Caleb needed me to do this. Caleb's plan depended on my power increasing even more than it did, and he was most likely correct about it's potential for increasing my power in my razor wind and water pulse.

It was really fighting me. I guess I've spent my entire life using basically nothing but my fire, and while I have trained the other elements in recent months, it hasn't been nearly enough. Caleb was right; My entire system of type auras was way off balance and that was why my water and wind attacks did less damage than my fire attacks unless I was angry.

I forced the energy to expand up to my skin and tried to make it go further, into my fur. I forced it further than it was capable of going, whimpering in pain yet pushing forward with the action. I had to do this. I **had** to realign some of my elements-

And then something just kind of… Clicked in my system. Energy roared through me, and I cried out as I unleashed a lot of power outwards. It rushed forward, and I released it in the form of a water pulse and a razor wind unleashed without any charging. The two exploded against each other immediately and the destruction rolled across the clearing like a flood, obliterating a good amount of the tall grass that we were standing in.

I felt those two energies remaining near my skin again, adding to my fire aura and not contradicting itself, instead mixing like it was supposed to. I felt like I could take more, too. All three of the elements were powerful in comparison to my others, and I felt it condense in my body right at my skin. I suspected that this added aura would make my skin tougher, so I could take more punishment.

I stood there with my mouth and horn emitting smoke, kind of unfocused for a while because I had just wiped out a majority of two other elemental powers of mine and would need them to regenerate properly. Holy cow, that hurt! I felt like it worked, but **wow** , I'm in pain.

I looked to Caleb, hoping he was happy with my performance of sorts, and then I could imagine a dotted outline of where the guy was supposed to be, right in front of me.

 _Caleb? Where'd he go?_

It took me a solid minute of standing there like an idiot to realize that he had been in the blast zone when I unleashed all of that energy at once. I looked ahead and saw no sign of Caleb. Despite the aching in my legs, I raced forward, shouting his name, and didn't find anything in the destroyed grassland area in front of me.

Now I was really panicking, until Caleb's voice stated from behind me. "I can only be glad I moved."

I whirled to find him; he looked mildly amused at my running off when I thought I had blasted him across the grasslands. His armor gleamed in the sunlight. His barely hidden smirk was something I could see easily. His eyes had the slightest gleam of amusement.

"It would be best if you rested." he said calmly, walking up to me.

I tried to act confident. "I'm good, Caleb. I'll be fine." I claimed.

He reached me, and we were very close at this moment. I could probably steal a kiss if Caleb wasn't waiting for me to do that so that he might flee. "Sarah, do you remember what I said to Erza regarding what would happen if I put my paws over her eyes that one time?" he asked.

 _He's going to willingly make contact with me!?_

I tried not to let **that** outburst out. Being super excited about being reminded of Erza being super tired was going to sound odd to him. "She was tired, right?" I asked, not getting it.

He reared up and placed his paws over my eyes without hesitation. Immediately, with the lack of light which was keeping my brain functioning, I felt myself blacking out. I tried to fight that, but he was right. I was so immensely tired… I needed sleep…

 **Caleb's POV**

I landed back on all fours as Sarah promptly fell over, snoring. I raise my brow at her before picking the girl up and somehow managing to haul her onto my back to carry her back to the guild. Shedinja floated down to meet me from where he was observing from the sky. " **Shedinja** ," he said.

"Thank you," I replied, realizing he had given me a lot of information regarding how far Sarah's flamethrowers had been able to go at their max. And like I had seen, she was pretending to be fine when she was tired after the first few bursts of flames. Hopefully, this test would improve her battling condition.

I felt we would need it in the future of the remainder of this competition.

* * *

" **TEAM AMBER VERSUS SHADE!"**

The crowd roared their approval as the illusion master faced off against Amber's team. I knew who would win. I just wished to see what patterns Amber's team would use.

"Trust **nothing** that you see, and follow my lead," Absol commanded. I nodded at his decision. He knew how to use his absol senses properly. Shade stood there, her clawed hand over the pouch that likely contained her purple crystal with the odd vision showing tricks that Shedinja described.

Focusing on the bag did nothing for me. I would have to wait until Shade got desperate.

" **BEGIN!** "

Shade bolted forward, or appeared to. It was difficult to tell. Her night slash and shadow claws were indeed out and ready to tear into things, but Charizard quickly took flight to avoid being struck by the grounded zoroark. Magnezone too took to the air, while Amber stayed near Absol.

Absol behaved in a way I would when danger arose. He shifted down slightly and claws flashed above him. He shifted left to avoid a strike to his right. His casual actions were easily avoiding the strikes. Which was likely good because out of all of us, Absol was likely the most deserving of the title glass cannon.

I watched him leap back along with Amber as the attacks became visible for a moment, and far more in quantity. I narrowed my eyes. Shade was too quick on the draw for my tastes. If I had to get back that soon…

But at the same time, I had armor, and fewer places to be struck as a direct result.

Absol began circling the shivering Amber. He was keeping between the two of them as much as possible. However, something odd happened. The illusions of Shade that I was ignoring at this point seemed to grow heavier. I focused on one, seeing the dirt become displaced.

"Her 'illusions' are physical now." I announced, and everyone sitting near me looked at me with surprise. as the zoroark images zipped forward from all directions, and Absol quickly felt the danger. He grabbed Amber by the scruff and hauled the smaller pokemon out of the way while leaping.

He didn't get out of it unscathed, but out he got with a light gash in his flank. He skidded to a stop while turning on the spot, facing the group of 'illusions'. He suddenly looked very worried. and Magnezone started sniping the illusions with lightning bolts and making them dissolve. It did little to deter Shade herself, as the zoroark soon had Amber and Absol surrounded again by a seeming army of herself.

I was analytical of course. Six of her copies were solid. The rest were not, as I judged by how they interacted with the dirt around them.

But Absol still had six opponents, who were now wise to his dodging techniques. He prepared to escape, but he obviously felt a change, as evidenced by his eyes widening.

He whirled, but Amber was smacked by a dark set of claws in the form of a night slash. She was sent sailing, with a yelp of surprise. As I suspected, she looked uninjured again. She slid to a stop on the ground while Absol made the crucial mistake of making Amber's safety a priority. He was on her team, yes? At what point did he fail to learn that she seemed to be invulnerable? I can understand trying to keep her from being afraid, but…

That crucial mistake earned him many more night slashes. And then my friend was downed, defeated by his absolute lack of defense. Amber was all right, however, as she stood back up seemingly unharmed. There was something she was doing to avoid the impact of things, but… I haven't seen her injured even once.

Why she was using some sort of additional ability to avoid damage was strange to me, if she wasn't being injured.

Charizard and Magnezone busied themselves with blasting everything they could see, which was odd, because Shade would be invisible anyways. I frowned. I didn't see any footprints appearing on the dirt anywhere, indicating a gap in the illusion. Was she blocking me as well? Why? So that if she won, I couldn't have a way to defeat her? Then why not hide the fact that the physical copies were touching the ground?

Something was very odd about this fight. I frowned as Amber waved her paw at one of the illusions, watching it be blasted into smoke. Another one hit her. Amber proceeded to slide to a stop on her paws, staring at the images that were fading in and out of view to confuse her.

Charizard and Magnezone finally started unleashing a lot more power, the former roasting that entire section of the arena in flames. I knew it would be pointless; the real Shade was likely hanging out on the other side of the arena, but it was giving Amber some breathing room. She avoided the fire with that little flicker of non-firelight that I caught.

I wonder how long it would be before Shade tired of this. Her illusions must be costing her energy. Amber threw a small shadow ball in some direction and blasted a good eighth of the field into a giant crater. More astonishment from the audience, although she had blown up the entire thing last time.

I wondered how Amber was going to deal with an enemy she couldn't hit, and I wondered if she would just have to wait it out.

❊ **Amber's POV ❊**

My tail swished worriedly as I tried to figure out which Shade was real. I wasn't injured, but I was scared that the longer this would drag on, the more likely I was to accidentally blow something up that was important.

I imagined Caleb telling me " _Calm yourself, and analyze your surroundings. Search for consistencies. Search for inconsistencies. Search for everything, one concept at a time. One at a time… One at a…"_

l looked at the footprints of some of the illusions. The solid ones left footprints, but every one I hit dissolved anyways. That meant that Shade could make physical illusions. Her attacks didn't harm me. Was she using energy to do this? Maybe.

But I started to listen with my excellent ears. The **noise**. That was what was important. With Charizard torching the area each time I got smacked around, I kept having to shift forms. I could manage that of course. I would feel the air heating up, and a long time of experience with Charizard let me pick just the right moment to shift.

I was getting off track in my thoughts. The point was, that the sounds weren't quite right. The real Shade wasn't anywhere here, and with my friends safely in the sky, where the grounded zoroark could not get them, so even if she found some way to hurt me, she could not defeat the other two.

I was going to try and go easy on her. I didn't want to cause too much damage… I kind of felt an obligation to be involved in this tournament. Not that it wasn't important or anything. It was an event that only happened once a decade, and that was pretty big.

Getting off track again… That was easy when you don't really get hurt by stuff.

I was listening. I was hearing some real movement, and I knew I had found her general direction. I tried to avoid something obvious and made sure that there was a non-physical illusion in the way before I fired my shadow ball.

 **BWOOOM!**

The mushroom cloud covered the entire arena, though the majority of the damage was dealt to about a quarter of it, and the magical shielding held this time. Thank goodness. I didn't want to accidentally destroy it again.

And I **heard** it. Two things. The first was that the crowd was cheering when I blasted the arena apart a quarter of the way rather than being scared, which was uplifting. The second one was that I could hear Shade moving. The real one.

I focused on the noise, saw the footprint, and dashed forward with incredible speed, to be right in front of where she was, and I swung a return attack at her, keeping Daemyn in mind. Not my best friend, so it didn't add too much power.

I hit her mask dead on, shattering the bone-like cover for her face and launching her across the stadium and straight into the wall brutally. I flinched. I would try to apologize to the antisocial zoroark later.

To my surprise, she did get up, albeit shakily. " **You** …" she muttered, reaching with her claw to open the small pouch she always kept near her. She unsnapped the bag and slowly pulled out an eight-sided rhombus-like purple crystal as Charizard and Magnezone came closer to me.

She held the small crystal tightly. " **I do not intend to lose to the likes of you** ," she growled, making me flinch back. Something was up with her voice. Something was up with the crystal as well. Purple and black energies swirled together within it.

And when I looked directly at it, I could have sworn I saw the image of a draconic beast within, it's glowing purple eyes locked onto me and growling. I was **terrified** of it. It was dark, but not like the beasts that Caleb and others described as the beasts that Daemyn and Caleb had become. Purple eyes, not red. The dark aura flowed off of it more like somewhere in between smoke and flame instead of pooling off of them.

She held the crystal up in front of her. " **I don't lose,** " she growled, " **I could never lose, not with this.** "

The energy from the crystal began flowing into her in streams of black and dark purple, and the zoroark hunched over. Her eyes had become visible with the absence of her mask, but now those eyes shifted into a purple color. First the irises, then the entire eyes glowed purple.

I flinched. Her fur was beginning to be replaced with **scales**. Black scales spread over her fur and pushed it down, and her claws became bigger. Her hair turned black with purple highlights, and the orb in her hair gleamed and remained a bluish sphere that seemed more like a pearl of some sort, though it had a slight glow to it.

Some of her fur stayed on her face and arms and chest, though her legs were clearly draconic, just in the shape of a zoroark's legs. And scales mostly dominated her body. I watched as giant dragon wings unfolded into existence behind her, and dark energy started exuding from the ground, as the earth underneath her cracked.

" **I invoke Shadow's Wrath** ," Shade said, as the crystal faded away in a flash of purple light and the darkness rising out of the ground erupted into a pillar of pure dark energy, the earth rumbling underneath my feet. I laid my ears back and started to back up. The being was encased in a dark pillar of energy and I could only see her new form's outline and the glowing purple eyes.

"Guys…" I said, "Please get back in the air."

They took to the sky without hesitation. When I made such a request, they made sure to obey it, because I was really worried at that point. The last time I made a request like it was when Charizard, a charmander then, was going to fight Rayquaza alongside her, and I had told him to step aside.

Shade disappeared and the pillar thinned out and disappeared. I was about to ask what happened when she was quite immediately **right** in front of me, and she slammed me with those massive dark dragon claws in an uppercut, blasting me straight in the sky in an instant. I was spinning, and now I was slowing…

I twisted in mid-air, looking down, and paled. There were **clouds** below me. And the arena was **tiny** in my view. How the heck did that zoroark do that? That 'Shadow's Wrath' thing must be powerful as heck to do that kind of thing.

My eyes widened as I saw Charizard confronted in the air by a very much now **winged** opponent, who grabbed him by the face and flew straight into the ground with him. Shade left Charizard half buried in the dirt and unconscious.

And then she was over by Magnezone, proceeding to one-shot the poor guy with an attack that was supposed to be weak on him; a giant shadow claw. Both of my teammates downed just like that. And I was still sky high. Falling, but sky high. I didn't really have a way to fly at all. So I fell, I fell down to earth like a rock, and I hit the dirt like one too.

I stood up on my feet, shivering. Shade was scaring me a lot right now. Some sort of dark dragon's power was running through the zoroark, turning her into someone who can one-shot my teammates without much trouble.

I braced myself for her next appearance, and did managed to duck the claw strike, but my reaction time was nowhere near good enough to stop the next blow. I felt everything go into slow motion as I felt my stomach pushed back by the strike as my spine curved. Then, the force of the strike really hit me, and a shock wave shot me far across the arena and straight into the magic barrier, which cracked under the force but managed to repair itself as I fell off of it onto the dirt.

She appeared right in front of me. When she stood still, that pillar of darkness just kept erupting out of the ground. " **I'll just keep pounding you until you're down.** " she told me, immediately roundhouse-kicking me at an unprecedented speed right into my right cheek.

I felt myself sail along the magic barrier, bouncing off of it and cracking it again with the speed I was going and headed for a crash landing into the dirt again.

Shade didn't let me hit the ground. The pearl-like gem in her hair flashing, she appeared in front of me and punched me again. Gone were the slashes and the illusions and the elegant movements. All that remained were the sheer power and this astonishing speed, and new wings.

I tried to keep my eye on her, problem was that I was **spinning**. I could see sky, then ground, then the stadium, and then **Shade** punching me in the face again, and then more sky. Sailing through the air as the other girl slammed her claws straight into my spine and blasted me upwards into the sky again. She was freaking juggling me through the air as she tried to hurt me.

I almost made it to the ground about a minute later, but I was denied that from another strike. Shade showed no signs of tiring. That crystal thing must be giving her all of that energy. She would probably be able to defeat any other person in this field without me here.

I tried to figure out how powerful she was hitting me. I was flying a certain distance, every time she hit me. Thinking of Caleb's analysis, I managed to catch a view of Shade's strike, seeing how she threw her punch. Problem was, unlike Caleb, I didn't know how to use that information.

I wanted to know how to end this fight. I needed to know how much she could take, because I didn't want to cause too much damage. I didn't want to wing it. I could really hurt her.

Her pearl would flash and she would suddenly appear elsewhere. Like a dark version of teleportation. I knew that Caleb would have figured out the teleporting thing beforehand. I thought that Shade the… Whatever she had become, wasn't actually that fast. That teleporting had to stop though.

I didn't know how to stop her from teleporting around. I just had to hit her, but I didn't want to. What if I forfeited? I didn't want Caleb to lose the tournament after all. He was always being so kind. And he planned for everything… If anybody deserved victory, it's him.

But I had to beat Shade first, because I knew that Caleb could not beat her. Shade had too many advantages.

She appeared under me about two minutes later, her claw poised to strike me again, and I decided I needed to attack. I had to now. This battle was just going to be me smacked around the stadium repeatedly until Shade tired, and I didn't know if she would.

So I waved my paws in a circular motion, with enough power to propel myself around to be doing a flip, and I charged my return attack while thinking of Charizard, my best friend.

 **Caleb's POV**

I had stood up when I saw the darkness coming from Shade. I analyzed what it was doing to Shade's body, and the resulting dark pillar of constant power. "What is that!?" Sarah exclaimed from her seat **right** next to me.

"I don't know what it is." I said as I remembered the concept of the dragon image coming from the crystal "But I do not like it. That power is immense. Everything is jeopardized if Amber cannot beat Shade right now. Furthermore, I predict a complete reversal of Shade's typical strategy, and I suspect that this battle might potentially cause a lot more damage than Amber already has."

Everyone grew tense quickly. They braced themselves for something dangerous, and my eyes widened when the first strike fell. Amber wasn't fighting back right now. I watched her get slammed repeatedly into the magic walls surrounding the field that acted as forcefields. They kept taking damage from each blow. They would repair themselves, but the cracks were getting worse as Shade put more and more dark power into her attacks.

My eyes narrowed at Amber's expression. She seemed to go from panicking in fear of the dark aura to something more calm as the minutes passed. When I had met the girl, she had been very poorly trained in controlling her emotions, but she seemed to be working on it. I was proud of the little girl, honestly. She had been through a lot, and she had probably been through a lot in her previous life as well… I didn't want to think about that.

And I thought about a lot of things, but Amber was too… Innocent for that right now. To deal with so much in a previous life…

Amber was launched sky high again. She looked down at Shade, who teleported near her and was going to strike once more. Shade was constantly confrontational with this power. I was confused by the complete lack of strategy, but she seemed to have the power to back it up.

Amber whirled her paws, creating enough of an impact with the air that she spun rapidly in a forward roll, and her tail glowed red. I saw the attack coming a mile away, but I wasn't Shade, and Shade was already in the process of trying to strike Amber again.

Amber's return attack hit home. Instantly, a shockwave erupted in all directions, promptly making the entire magical field crack in numerous places and making the interior look kind of like a kaleidoscope. At that moment, some of the force seemed to leak, blowing the fur of anyone with fur back wildly in a powerful wind, and the clouds cleared away immediately in a circular outward motion. From what I could see through the repairing cracks, the transformed zoroark was blasted downward into the dirt, and the resulting crash threw up a lot of earth.

As the cracks repaired themselves, I saw Amber land right on her face as she was spinning uncontrollably down to earth, and Shade had made an extremely long and deep trench that she had been drilled through, displacing pretty much all the earth in the arena.

The zoroark was back to normal and very much unconscious.

"With one hit…" somebody to my left whispered. I nodded. The match was clearly over. I saw the crystal reappearing in Shade's hand as the zoroark lay in the crater her unconscious form had made.

"The only reason she waited at all was because she didn't want to hurt Shade very badly." I stated calmly as Amber found herself near us, and we started the long wait for the dirt to move back into place due to magic.

"Did… Did I do all right?" Amber asked me. I smiled warmly down at her. The girl saw my smile and barely needed the rest of my response, a response I gave anyways.

"You did very well, Amber." I complimented her. "That was very impressive, and the one who seems to be your greatest contender has been defeated."

I looked down at the field again. "I would wish to know what that crystal was, and why it added dark dragon elements to her body and increased her strength, along with teleportation abilities. However, the girl is extremely closed off normally. That is the most I have heard her speak at one time."

"That's true… I wonder if the crystal did something to her beyond her body and power." Ninetales mused.

"That reminded me too much of the dark energy beasts a while back…" Daemyn whispered. Ninetales had been informed of this of course, though some others around us like team Eternal Flame looked at him oddly.

"Please don't." I interrupted before they could ask "That is a tale for another time, and perhaps that time will never come. At any rate, we next need to await our next matchup. Of the people we know, my team, Gallade, and Amber are still in this match."

 _And I can only hope to face Amber as soon as possible._

* * *

 **TEAM EDGE VERSUS GALLADE!**

 _This is nonsense._

I had my strategy for defeating Gallade. his fighting patterns were unorthodox, but they were still patterns. I knew where this was going. I was going to have to force his hand to the point where he inevitably used that stone that hung from his elbow, which he sometimes used as a kind of weapon by slinging it around while using his psycho cuts and slashes, but it was absolutely certain that that stone did something else.

Who would have guessed that I would have to fight Amber **last**?

Gallade faced the three of us with a sneer on his face. I felt a chill. Every time I saw the guy, something new about what he was doing that I managed to noticed put me on edge slightly. I would not allow this to deter me.

"'Sup, human?" he asked. That was another thing. They way he was talking changed as well. He was intentionally inconsistent about everything, and it suggested that he was hiding something.

"You know what to do about this eventuality," I said, knowing that Gallade would be listening intently because the audience had quieted for once.

I looked right into his eyes. I watched his irises, his pupils. I know psychology, obviously. I know a lot of things. His eyes were meeting mine evenly, but something was off. Gallade worried me. There were three of us, but one does not make it this far into the tournament without being able to defeat groups of pokemon.

At the same time, I was not absolutely certain which of us he would attack first. I was well and truly worried. If I had been any sort of lucky, I would have faced Amber very soon after I faced Daemyn, if not immediately.

Instead, I was facing off against the last obstacle between Amber's fame and the defeat I would prefer to have.

 **BEGIN!**

 _Far too soon…_

Gallade smirked and prepared himself. "We have a lot in common." he said to me, and turned and ran at Sarah.

He was fast, but he wasn't moving the speed of sound, like the sound of my voice did. "Stay near me, Sarah!"

Sarah bolted away from Gallade to come to me, and Gallade had to avoid my night slash as it roared past him, digging a trench through the ground as the vertical attack raced forward. As the fighting type leapt aside, Sarah reached me and shot a water pulse at him. Her attack charged faster and was larger and stronger, as I had intended when I helped her literally bring her water and wind aura to the surface.

As such, the next step came into play. "Sarah… Storm." I commanded, and she summoned the wind to start swirling around the both of us while Shedinja got as far out of there as he possibly could. The winds picked up dirt and grass, making our area invisible. Sarah could do this without wasting as much energy.

"You'll have to do better." the gallade told us, putting the dust under a psychic, and affecting it's path so that he could see through it. I knew that his primary long range attack was psycho cut, which would do literally nothing to us.

He stepped forward to avoid a shadow ball from the sky, not bothering to deal with the explosion behind him. I remembered that he showed uncanny levels of stamina during his fight with Space, defeating the other gallade with little difficulty.

I knew Shedinja very well, and so my night slash was designed to put gallade straight into the path of the upcoming solarbeam. Instead of taking the obvious choice to step to the right away from the blade attack that approached somewhat to his left, he jumped further to the left and avoided the sudden and destructive solarbeam.

 _Unfortunate. He has a great degree of intelligence when it comes to battling._

our biggest advantage was that no psychic type could read any of our minds. Sarah and I were dark types, and Shedinja was immune to most things, including psychic energy and magic. For this reason, I knew that he was predicting the attacks based on strategic knowledge.

What I had predicted is that we would have to sporadically change tactics, and so that is what we did.

Gallade saw the first change coming, jumping above the flamethrower and ducking the solarbeam at the same time, in a move worthy of a 'The Matrix' character. The third strike, however, was not something he predicted, as I abandoned the notion of strategy instantly and we all jumped at him with attacks prepared. Shadow ball, night slash, and a low-level razor wind that didn't require as much charging but wasn't the biggest impacting attack.

His eyes widened in surprise, and he was struck by all of the attacks. Now that he was downed, I struck him repeatedly with my attacks while Sarah and Shedinja roasted him with flamethrower and solarbeam.

"Back!" I shouted, and we all moved back quite a bit before Gallade stood up and attempted a counterattack, hitting only air. "Back to a proper strategy…" I whispered to Sarah. She nodded. I was glad that had worked. If he had seen it coming, we could have been seriously injured or defeated by his quick strikes and the fighting type move 'close combat', which was basically getting up close and beating the snot out of the opponent using fighting type energy in their punches.

It would have been brutal.

"Sarah." I said simply, and she immediately got between Gallade and I, Gallade charging with that very close combat trick. He leaped at Sarah, who immediately glowed an azure blue and became an immovable object. Gallade's punches did nothing, and he realized this a millisecond too late. The male gallade was blasted by my night slash once more and thrown through the air and was promptly blasted into the dirt again from mid-air by Shedinja's solarbeam.

I warily watched the dust curl up from where he was now standing. He laughed a big hearty laugh at us. I looked closely, seeing that he was wounded but laughing like a maniac. The constantly inconsistent man stepped out of the small crater he had made, not seeming fatigued at all. Perhaps he had a similar trick to what Keron was using against Erza.

"Well, we both know I can't outmaneuver you, Caleb," Gallade stated as he stood straight. "You see everything I do, and you planned for everything. I try to get behind you, I've lost. I try close combat, I've lost. I have done much the same planning for you, but I am only one person. I won't be taken by surprise again."

His warning was interesting, because I had other things to try and surprise him with. However, his planning process was likely a lot like mine. Perhaps that is why he told me I was a lot like him. That analogy gave me some sort of chill.

Sarah had not liked Gallade the first day we met him. His conflicting actions and odd way of using words that tried to connect him to me was beginning to worry me as well. I was starting to see why Sarah's initial reaction had taken place.

Psychological analysis of Gallade had proven worthless so far. I didn't know who he was, what he was capable of. And yet, this was a world in which things don't go wrong often, and never in truly horrifying ways. So what he was capable of was a relative question that I don't believe truly needs to be answered.

"I think it's time to show you exactly what we are capable of." Gallade stated, raising the green gem hanging from it's thread. It began to glow very slightly. He started to chuckle. "As I said before, we have plenty in common, such as abilities. And secrets."

"I hold no secrets that do not bear holding." I retorted quickly. What secrets did he mean?

The light grew in that gem of his, and energy started to swirl around Gallade. My eyes narrowed. That stone seemed to be reacting to him as though it was specifically designed for him. Was this what my gem could do? I wondered how I would possibly use it…

But to be honest, I wasn't interested in seeing what the stone was doing. "Sarah…" I said, and my teammate launched a flamethrower at the stationary gallade. I wasn't one for fancy dramatic openings or power-ups. l wasn't a dramatic person.

Gallade's eyes widened and he leapt away from the inferno, that energy still swirling around him at a faster rate. He got an odd expression on his face as Sarah launched her next flamethrower.

The energy multiplied by a huge margin then, swirling into a sort of shell that protected Gallade from the flames and I felt his energy skyrocket with my horn. I stiffened. The hell was he doing?

With a rather explosive expansion, that shield-like thing bursting to reveal Gallade, who had physically changed a **lot**.

I gritted my fangs in worry. My preparation might not matter in this instance. I **felt** that monstrous energy as the boosted Gallade stepped forth into the spotlight. Two extensions flowed behind his back in what looked like a torn up cape that had a split down the middle. His extended elbows now had red blades along them, blades that looked very sharp. The crest on his head had adopted an upward and forward curl, and he had generally grown in size very slightly. Power roared outwards from the transformation like he was not bothering to control it.

I grimaced and inched into a more defensive position. "Sarah… Has it been long enough to use protect again without it failing?" I asked quietly.

"Yeah... " she said, "It has…."

"Then use it the moment he moves. He'll attack immediately, and he knows you're the powerhouse of the team." I pointed out.

"Caleb, what's he gonna do?" Sarah asked worriedly.

"See?" the gallade asked, brandishing his new weaponized features cockily. "That's what this baby does."

As he gestured to the stone hanging from it's string still, I frowned. It did not look exactly like mine, but it was clearly of the same nature. It could prove just as viable for me to do something similar, but Gallade's attitude dissuaded me from the notion of asking him to teach me how to use such a thing, and the only reason I might possibly need it is in the notion that I would take part in another of these tournaments.

And the only reason I was a part of this in the first place was due to the fact that I was attempting to do one more thing to elevate Amber's team to the highest degree of popularity she could possibly have. It could be done, and I would manage it.

If Gallade did not sweep us right here right now.

He gave a laugh and suddenly blurred and vanished. Sarah instantly activated her protect attack, protecting herself from the slash attack and close combat attack combination that should have instantly defeated her. Her wide eyes stayed wide because she was completely immobile, so she was frozen in that look of terror.

For just a glimpse, I caught the fact that Gallade seemed to be increasingly enjoying it. When I saw him look as Sarah's terrified expression that she couldn't change even while safe using protect, and he smiled more broadly.

I did not let the touch of protectiveness I felt control my actions. As long as Sarah was being intact, she would be safe. Protect lasted until it was no longer needed. Afterwards, it couldn't be used again for a while, because it would fail. I was uncertain how this would continue from here.

Gallade's new element in battle had me very worried. I had not foreseen it, and unlike Shade's item related transformation, it would be directed towards me.

I felt with a sinking heart that Gallade was about to halt my progress right here, right now. He was tiring of seeing Sarah's terrified expression, and was gone again. I spun to my left, rearing back so that his fist would strike my chestplate instead of my face.

I succeeded and was sent flying back without being knocked out instantly, but it only protected my skin. I felt the impact itself quite a lot. I sorely wished I didn't have proper nerves. The pain!

I skidded to a stop on the dirt while the crowd waited in bated silence. They had had the typical reaction to seeing an unprecedented and unexplained transformation, of course, but that died away when they saw the famed strategist get smacked across the arena.

I grunted from the pain and got to my feet. Gallade stood above me; being a quadruped and relatively short compared to the larger fighting type, I was looking up at him. Having to look up at people caused quite the problem for me in terms of dignity, and right now I was starting to feel like an ant looking up at a mountain. Not in a physical sense of course, but it would be a lengthy, dangerous path to the top and right now there was a rockslide coming down the mountain.

I felt set up to fail now. And I had been so, so close…

I tried to jump away, but Gallade suddenly had me lifted by the scruff. "You'd probably learn how to do this kind of thing with a little bit of tutelage, and knowing you as well as I do, I don't expect you to hesitate." he said. I drove two shadow claw attacks into his chest, but he **laughed** at me. "As for right now though…"

He brought back his free hand. "Good night."

 **Bam!**

 **Shedinja's POV**

 _Oh no…_

Caleb was down. Defeated. I backed up as far as I could. Gallade was going to get it really hard now. Sarah unfroze and looked back, seeing Caleb down, and that familiar look appeared in her eyes. She started growling dangerously, fire escaping from her mouth and wind whirling around her in a sphere, lifting her up slightly.

"You…" she growled dangerously as the audience winced at Gallade's apparent fate in this fight. " **You hurt Caleb!** " Sarah roared, unleashing an immense flaming razor wind at Gallade.

Gallade moved. He blurred out of the way, letting the strike explode against the ground with such an immense force that the smoke covered half of the arena and the crater must have been massive.

But Sarah was blasted away by one of Gallade's punches as he appeared next to her, having taken the time to dodge the massive blast and was now behind her… Where had he gotten this speed? That transformation must have completely broken the equation of what Gallade's old limits were.

And then Sarah was downed, despite her rage at Gallade and despite having sent a massive flamethrower into him. Burned and injured by Caleb and Sarah, yet seeming to be just fine for continuing, he punched her as well and defeated her in a single blow. All of us were glass cannons in a sense, though I could be considered an unbeatable force if It was the right opponent…

Come to think of it, I had not seen a single move from Gallade that could defeat me. I was not about to let my guard down, however. Caleb's entire plan was now riding on me.

"So what makes you tick, eh?" Gallade asked as he turned to me, walking forward. I was prepared to disappear in a moment's notice. "I would love to find out, but I had better figure out why you seem to be so invulnerable all the time. Will you just be harmed if the power is enough? Do you hide the damage you take somehow?"

 _Liar. You know exactly what I am and what I can do and what can do me in._

Knowing that he was a liar allowed me to know that the fact that he would lie in the first place implied that he did have a way to harm me. No doubt he would play the game, mess with my head, and try and take me down with ease.

I was not going to let him. I charged my solarbeam. I would beat this guy down as much as I had to to defeat him.

He sidestepped my first solarbeam, but I could afford to waste energy. As far as I knew, there was no limit to how many attacks I could throw, but in return my control over how much power they have is completely gone.

He charged me and slammed a glowing white fist into my shell, unleashing a shock wave of force that literally didn't do jack to me. He comically blinked a few times, getting a bit of a chuckle from the crowd, and then comically shook his hand like one does when he punched something really hard.

The crowd was now invested in the comedy that Gallade was playing. I tried to remain calm, I really did, but with him acting in such a way… It was nasty of him to play off of my abilities and make them his accomplishments, as if that was somehow impressive. He was smart, evidenced by how he fought. He likely knew why Caleb was in this in the first place, and he was consciously stomping on that concept and enjoying doing so.

So I was not happy.

He just kept sidestepping my attacks. He did this for literally thirty minutes, acting particularly casual, and jabbering on about how like Caleb, he could predict me pretty easily. I hated that I didn't have anything more unpredictable to throw at this guy, but that form had to be draining him somehow.

I interrupted all of his tricks and words that were trying to rile up the crowd or belittle Caleb and the others. Caleb and Sarah were still unconscious on the ground here, and I got an idea. If Caleb and Sarah managed to wake up on their own, they could still go on. It was only once all of the members were defeated that the team was teleported off of the field.

So if I played this guy's game for long enough that Caleb woke up on his own, Caleb could think of something while pretending to be unconscious. And if I could beat Gallade on my own…

He charged me suddenly, and appeared behind me. I ducked as fast as possible, my body sinking downward as fast as it could go, and barely escaped the fire punch he had apparently decided to throw. I had known this was coming, frankly. For the past fifteen minutes, I had figured that I could just punch myself through the dirt and hang out underground for a while.

I hit the dirt, and sunk into it, but I got a weird feeling instantly. An actual, proper feeling. My body sunk into the dirt and my shell seemed to melt into this black puddle on the ground. I was **very** confused. What was this?

I tried moving, and found that I was moving far faster than I should be. Gallade gave a noise of surprise as I got away from him as fast as possible, the shadow I had turned myself into speeding along the ground. I had legitimately become a shadow itself.

"Get out of there." Gallade drawled "You're prolonging the inevitable."

" _I love prolonging the inevitable"_ " **Shedinja** "

I was getting better at clever retorts, I supposed. "So the ghost bug **can** speak." Gallade said aloud "I thought maybe either the human or the red one was using ventriloquism or something. Throwing their voice. You never showed any sort of emotion at all, sooo…"

" _I physically can't, you prick"_ " **Shedinja** "

Gallade rubbed at his ear. "That smarts…" he muttered. "Yes, I know what you're saying. I guess I'm just not paying attention, huh? Just blathering about? Are you actually going to just hang out in your own shadow until everyone in the audience goes to sleep?"

" _Or until I figure something out"_ " **Shedinja** "

Gallade knew how to discern what I was saying, huh? That could be bad… Then again, there was nobody to communicate with at the moment. I tested out how fast I could move, and Gallade caught on. "So you're still being a nuisance solely because you accidentally found out you could use that attack?" Gallade inquired with a raised brow.

" _Pretty much"_ " **Shedinja** "

I was whipping about with intense speed. This attack, whatever it was, seriously boosted my velocity (which Caleb had defined as a term for speed, though to be more accurate, he said that the absolute value of velocity equals speed. I don't know what he meant by that, even having tried to learn what he was talking about during those math class things he did before he showed movies.)

I was getting way off track. I didn't even know how to get out of this shadow. I backed way away from Gallade and, considering I move my thought command, made myself just rise up. It worked perfectly, and I sank back down when Gallade tried to hit me again.

"Well, well, you know how to escape your own shadow." he said as I zipped away along the ground. "Congratulations."

His mocking drawl was beginning to get to me, so I adopted Caleb's stance in life and tried to remain calm. I moved to be directly underneath him, and Gallade jumped away. Jumping away was good. It meant I should do what I was doing more.

I didn't actually have a clue about what I was doing. That was the sad part. I was just kind of messing with him because I literally couldn't do anything else.

Gallade hopped about as I chased him, and I was sweeping around him, moving faster than he was. It seemed that this attack was like my version of quick attack, and to outspeed me, the gallade I was supposed to be fighting was going to have to use an actual attack to move that speed.

Because I was sweeping fancily around him, I was able to pass by Caleb. As my shadow passed over him, I saw his claw twitch ever so slightly, out of Gallade's view. Caleb was telling me that he was already awake, and he knew what was happening.

I didn't dare check on Sarah. Gallade would notice the pattern. Besides, if Sarah was awake, she would be spitting fire right now. Everyone in this entire freaking stadium knew that much about her.

I changed patterns, swirling around Gallade while he tried to get away. He obviously didn't know any speed moves. When he carved a trench in the ground, I glided over it with ease and without having to rise above the ground.

I was in front of him. He whirled because last time I tried to get behind him. I launched myself, finding a lot of speed in my physical body, and slammed him right in the back. The powered up pokemon went sailing with a shout of pain and surprise at my super effective attack, and even as the ghost energy rolled off of me and started to disappear, I sank into the ground again.

Like this, I was indestructible. Like this, I could win. Gallade's expression changed as he rubbed his back. The mocking look turned into a glare, the sneer into a scowl. He obviously didn't like losing. He obviously **really** didn't like losing. This side of him was unnerving. Something was **wrong** with him. Malice wasn't a common trait.

He charged and struck at my shadow with his fire punch. I was just a shadow at the moment. However, He continued to strike, and I backed up in case he somehow found a way to hurt me. Again I struck him in the back. And again. This guy wasn't going down!

He was nearby Caleb now, and he surreptitiously brought his blade by Caleb, as if to attack him. Did he know that Caleb was awake and keeping an eye on everything? I needed to not take chances. I bashed him again, getting the hang of this shadow travel thing.

I think half of the audience had considered leaving after thirty minutes of doing nothing of value, nothing of interest. Now, however, they seemed to be glad that they waited. Throughout the stadium, people were cheering because I was showing off a new trick right there when things got tough. As if it was planned.

Gallade was trying not to breathe heavily. I could tell from his face. He knew he was nearing the breaking point. Still he attacked in what looked to be turning into a blind rage. I was able to strike him more easily, and he didn't even get close as he got desperate. He cracked under pressure.

Five minutes later, which was way too long, but Gallade had become immensely powerful, I had the unconscious pokemon under my shadow, and we were declared the winner. Caleb chose that time to go ahead and stand up, and to my astonishment, Sarah did as well.

"Glad you prepared me for the time when Shedinja would be on his own." Sarah said, smiling at me "Otherwise, Id've blown as much of this arena apart as I could manage."

Caleb stepped up to me as I floated out of my shadow. "Excellently done, Shedinja." he complimented me, making the crowd roar its approval because they thought that Caleb was intentionally giving me a chance to shine rather than being defeated.

"Between you and me…" he whispered quietly, so quietly that the magic screens wouldn't broadcast it "I only woke up around the time that you passed over me. I was confused for a time, not seeing where you were, but that truly impressed me. Good work, Shedinja."

I would have glowed with pride if I was physically capable of that. " _...Thank you, Caleb. I'm surprised myself."_ " **Shedinja**." I replied, hoping my message came across.

"And you managed to make yourself a celebrity as well." Caleb commented quietly, looking about. "You're the star of this battle. Feel free to act like it."

We were declared the winner and brought out of the arena. Once out of the magic viewing enchantment, Caleb turned right towards me while some of the pokemon healed them. Well, Sarah handled healing Caleb.

"Shedinja, I assume you noticed Gallade's increasing instability during the battle?"

His serious tone elicited a response from me immediately. " _It worried me when it happened, but it's not like too much bad can happen about it, right?"_ " **Shedinja**."

Caleb sighed. "I suppose you are correct," he admitted "It is simply easy to grow… Paranoid. I know that Gengar and his team held a grudge against Amber for a while. I do not wish to be attacked from another. I feel however that Gallade knows of our status that you helped to create today, and I feel as though that will deter him from making himself known as the person who attacked a group so important in society."

his reasoning placated the both of us. "One more thing, Shedinja," he said "You cannot imagine how immensely grateful I am. Without your actions, my plot to elevate Amber as high as she can go would have ended right here, right now. **You** saved the day."

He walked past me, nodding as he did. "That was all you."

We found ourselves back on the stands, where our friends congratulated us. Daemyn got Sarah riled up intentionally while he was grinning as he hid a warm congratulation behind his normal antagonistic actions to get Sarah riled up.

Once he was successful (and a little burnt), Erza had the both of them in a headlock while grinning cheerfully. Ninetales and several others were congratulating Caleb at first, but the absol directed them straight towards me and he lay down to relax while they stood there and watched. The message " _Go congratulate someone who deserves it"_ was loud and clear. I wondered if I actually deserved it. Sure, I found a new attack, but that was lucky.

"Excellent technique, shadow sneak." Ninetales proclaimed as I was suddenly confronted by a calm yet proud looking ninetales and several other grinning pokemon. I backed up an inch, a bit apprehensive in the face of all this attention. That move was called shadow sneak? Good to know.

"Mixing the technique, which already protects it's user quite a bit unless the ground is smashed apart, with your own attributes makes for a terrifying combination in battle." Space nodded next to his guildmaster-slash-queen, looking pretty happy with the situation, try as he might to maintain an aura of authority, he too could not hold back that smile.

I continued to receive congratulations as I remembered with a surge of relief that I was incapable of blushing. What does one even say after all of that? Half an hour of keeping an eye on Gallade and then winning when he went full force… The guy had even gotten a fire type attack **just** to deal with me.

" _...Thank you, everyone"_ I eventually thought, finding nothing else I could possibly say. What could I really say? That I knew what I was doing? That it was a fluke? Caleb had implied that it would be best to leave it alone. Because they drew conclusions from what they saw me do, not something I said. Nobody implied that I had planned it, but the others drew that conclusion. I was hesitant to tell them otherwise, at least not when surrounded by so many others.

" **Shedinja.** "

* * *

❊ **Amber's POV ❊**

It was several days later. Six, to be exact. Caleb's team easily made it through the rest of the battles, and the first arm of the tournament was actually nearing completion at this point. How we hadn't come across each other yet… But I knew. Somehow, I knew it. Today would be the day.

Part of it was Sarah whispering to Caleb about it rather than trying to nuzzle him and act like she used to. Her actions were starting to bother me again. I worried that Caleb was going to start having trouble with keeping it cool around the girl.

Nevertheless, Sarah was talking about a dream she had, and remembering what happened the last time she had a dream, I guessed that it was some sort of premonition. I think some absols can use future sight. Which, depending on the pokemon, can be an actual attack or literal future sight. The latter is rarer, but I really wouldn't put it past Sarah.

And considering she tried to sneak a glance at me when talking about the dream, I guessed that it was today that we were going to battle… I didn't want to fight.

" **TEAM EDGE VERSUS TEAM AMBER!** "

 _Oh… Oh no…_

We were on the field in no time while the crowd really went nuts. Here were their two favorite teams about to take each other on, one team declaring their victory. I wanted to forfeit. I wanted to just quit, but I kept this to myself. I knew that Charizard liked the attention, and Caleb had something planned for this battle, as he did for every battle.

 _I wonder… He probably knows just fine that he's going to lose if we both decide to fight._

"Amber…" Caleb said, and my ears pricked up upon hearing this. He looked up at me with a smile. "Whatever happens to us, you will get **no** frustration or anger from any of us. You know that, right?"

I blinked. He was encouraging me to try and fight? What was he doing? He wasn't afraid to lose, was that it?

"You're going to be fine, Amber." Sarah joined in "I think that you don't have to worry about us at all."

" **Shedinja.** " Shedinja intoned. I don't know exactly what he said, but I felt a burst of confidence welling within me at his hidden words.

"Amber?" Absol asked as I slipped off of Charizard's shoulder onto the ground. "Are you certain?"

"...Yeah." I said eventually.

"You'll do great," Charizard said.

"E-everyone in this stadium believes in you-u" Magnezone warbled.

I was near tears at this point. "...Thanks, everyone." I said.

" **BEGIN!** "

Shedinja instantly sank into his shadow and shot forward. He effortlessly curved around Absol's night slash and hit him, knocking him away a good distance with the less effective attack and sinking into his shadow again.

Caleb caught Charizard by surprise immediately with his long range night slash as Charizard was trying to get at Shedinja and not catching up to him. The fire type slid to a stop on the ground, surprised. Absol was on his feet, seeming mostly unharmed of any of us, but he was a great distance away, and Magnezone was currently running away from Sarah.

Caleb suddenly changed course; he had been running to intercept Absol, but he suddenly turned on a poké coin and went straight for me instead. I yelped and jumped over him, swinging my return attack at him. It felt odd, as he was the one I was thinking of, but I realized that the power was too great. I was going to seriously hurt him!

It was far too late. I saw the white of his eyes as my tail neared his chestplate, glowing with red energy.

 **CLANG-ANG-ang**

The sound echoed across the entire arena, and everyone gasped in astonishment as the shock wave from the strike blasted everything away, including the clouds again. Charizard was sent flying back, as was Magnezone and Absol, but Sarah had neutralized the energy somehow. She actually used protect to stop herself from being affected by the shockwave!

And then below me, was not Caleb, but Shedinja. He faced upwards at me. and Caleb was safe underneath him, on his back, protected from the shock wave. Shedinja had taken the strike with total ease. That is what he was, after all.

I bounced away a good ten meters and looked around. Absol and magnezone were dazed, actually, Absol looked like he had hit his head against the magic barrier and was maybe even unconscious from my own attack. I had used too much energy in that attack. Charizard however, my best friend, was on his way back and he looked **very** unhappy.

For the moment, however, I was separated from them. I saw that Sarah had launched a water pulse straight at Magnezone, who wasn't moving. I had taken my lessons on speed from Erza, and I didn't need quick attack to move fast enough. crouching, I shot forward at an intense speed, driving straight by Caleb and Sarah and-

 **CLANG.**

I smashed face first into Shedinja, who had popped out of his shadow again. I slid down, backing up a few steps, and charged a shadow ball. This would hurt him, right?

He sank back into his shadow as I fired, and my ghost type move sailed straight towards Magnezone. Shedinja had gotten me to attack my own teammate in a single instant!

 _Caleb has this entire fight planned out down to the nearest muscle twitch._

This realization was punctuated by Shedinja slamming into my chest with his shadow sneak. While I took zero damage from the ghost type move, I was launched back over towards the others. Once directly above them, I was hit with a psycho cut and a water pulse, blasting me further into the air in that explosion.

I allowed myself to fall onto my feet and spun a return attack, purposefully weakened to basically no power at all, and tried to get them out of there so that Charizard may get to me in time. Caleb leapt between Charizard and I, and knowing he couldn't actually hurt me, Charizard unleashed the fury of his flames right at Caleb.

Strangely predictably, Caleb leapt out of the way and I shifted forms just in time to avoid the uncomfortable feeling the flames gave me, trading it for a rather refreshing feeling.

Then, my ears twitched. Caleb's voice, echoing through the flames.

" **I see it.** "

I froze. what did he see? A way to beat me? The forms that I kept secret? An opportunity of some description?

Something slammed right into my cheek. It canceled out the warm feeling from before, so it must have been a water attack, specifically Sarah's water pulse attack. I felt myself go flying, my eye closed as I was sent tumbling against the dirt. I skidded to a stop and I looked around at Caleb, and Sarah, who appeared on the other side of the flames, and Caleb, who had a smile on his face. Shedinja gave Charizard a little bump which sent him into a last powerful water pulse from Sarah, which knocked the large pokemon out before he could figure out what happened. Sarah then sent a water pulse at Absol, who was weakly struggling to his feet, and knocked him out as well. I myself had accidentally defeated Magnezone and partially destroyed the magical barrier.

Why would they do that? Why would they do this extravagant thing to defeat us when they could have done just the same without such a trick, and what did Caleb see?

"You already know that my plan was set up down to the barest movement," Caleb said as he stepped forward "Even the winds, which Sarah has been keeping in a certain direction up until now. Sarah, you can cut that out now."

"Will do." Sarah sighed, and the wind stopped. She had been using the wind control portion of her razor wind technique this whole time? While using other attacks?

" **Shedinja**."

I calmed down as he said that, or tried to. I had been confident in my abilities in battle in this case, and these three had brought it out. I had made a mistake with Magnezone, but… He would forgive me. I knew that. I guess Shedinja had just advised I stay calm, but wouldn't they want me to be calm? Wouldn't they want me to not think things through?

My ears detected no noise. None. There wasn't a single sound. Why was there no noise? I looked around, wondering what the deafening silence was about. The audience was dead quiet for some reason. Why was it so quiet?

I didn't understand. What was up with everyone? Why was everyone looking right at me? I wondered if I had been covered with dirt somehow. I finally checked myself.

And my eyes widened.

 _Oh…_

My brightly colored fur definitely reflected the sun. My red fur. **Red** fur. I was still in my flareon form! In front of everyone!

 _Oh no. Nonononono…_

I shifted back into the form of an eevee quickly and looked around. The entire freaking world knew that I could do this now. That I could change. The entire. World. I shivered with fear, looking at Caleb's calm look, feeling absolutely betrayed. Everything he's done for me, only to alienate me in front of the entire world? Why? What did I do to him?

The audience roared suddenly as the shock started to fade away, the volume increasing exponentially and making me want to cover my ears. I flinched, shrinking into myself.

"Listen to them, Amber," Caleb commanded. Despite everything that just happened, I obeyed, and I began to realize something, that I was ignoring in my panic.

Cheering. That was what was happening. They were roaring their approval so loudly I almost thought I might to deaf, but I've heard louder when Rayquaza roared in my face. Approval? Cheers? What the hell was happening?

Caleb smiled at me. A warm, kind smile. "They love you, Amber. You're their favorite now. I may have been popular because of my consistently complex and victorious strategizing, but you have outgrown my own welcome by so much. This is my challenge to you."

He got into a battle stance, as did Sarah, and Shedinja neared the ground. "Use this power to it's fullest extent, holding back your sheer power in favor of the power given to you by your elemental forms. See, part of control is to make an element predominant. When you are not evolved, all of your elements struggle to be released at once. I feel that control should be easier if you battle by constantly changing forms. Try to absorb what you can. Are you ready, Amber?"

The crowd finally began to die down as they waited for my response. I hesitated. "I-I'm afraid I'll hurt you," I whispered. The crowd seemed to like that too, clamoring immediately after it was clear that I was done speaking.

"Oh, Amber…" Caleb said kindly "You won't. I can promise it on your behalf: Your attacks will not injure us in any irreparable way."

I frowned at his tone. He seemed so confident… Could I really do this? Be extravagant and impressive and changing forms rapidly while defeating them with normally powered attacks? Could I manage that?

Maybe… But I had to be careful. I wanted to do this now. I didn't want to back down. My abilities had earned a lot more than I thought they would, which was Caleb's game in the first place. He knew he wasn't going to win the tournament. Not with me around. Did this mean that he literally only took part in this tournament just to do this for me?

I tried to hold back tears. Why would he go to so much trouble, literally losing sleep and spending all of his time planning things out just for me? Why? Why be so self-destructive for the sake of someone else? Being kind I understood, but Caleb always had this air of exhaustion about him buried underneath the energy he had for battle.

"...Okay…" I said, and I braced myself. Me, against team Edge.

 **Caleb's POV**

The rest of this battle would be a formality.

My smile did not waver as I suddenly launched a night slash at Amber. She sidestepped it, likely because she couldn't absorb that one properly.

Sarah, however, shot a water pulse at Amber. Amber's necklace's blue piece flashed, and suddenly a vaporeon stood before us. She easily absorbed the blue energy sphere with no negative repercussions. The crowd's roar failed to die down this time as they excitedly talked and shouted their approval towards Amber and others around them.

Shedinja zipped behind Amber. " **Shedinja** ," he intoned, unleashing a shadow sneak on her. Amber shifted back into her normal form as she was struck, receiving no damage. She wouldn't have been damaged anyways, but it's the thought that counts.

Sarah's nuclear flamethrower enveloped the airborne eevee, eliciting gasps from the now completely enticed audience, before a flareon dropped out of the flames unharmed and immediately charged Shedinja while enveloped in fire.

Shedinja dropped into his shadow and outsped her current speed to get near me, and I chose my turn. I had a feeling I would know what was next going to happen as I unleashed one of my most powerful psycho cuts upon the flareon, who flashed immediately.

The umbreon absorbed the blade with little effort, and then she was a vaporeon to absorb the water pulse. Her form changes were so quick, so immediate, that she really could avoid basically anything.

Sarah began gathering the wind for a razor wind attack. Amber saw this and suddenly became an espeon, her tetra element's darker pink piece flashing. She created her own powerful storm with psychic energy, swirling at exactly the same ferocity as Sarah's building attack. Shedinja stayed out of the way, and I jumped away from the flying debris.

I noticed with a little bit of apprehension that they were creating a bit of a vacuum between them as the air swirled, because their winds were going in opposite directions. As the vortexes became faster and more destructive, My paws started to slide forward as the winds started to pull me into that whole mess.

Deciding not to get involved in what was starting to look like a set of gears made out of spheres of flying debris, I started running away, eventually using quick attack and making my progress eventually net zero. I was draining my own energy, but I probably wouldn't last a second in that storm. Being gear grinded by wind and dust wasn't on my agenda.

Both opponents unleashed their attacks by condensing them, Amber in the gem on her forehead, Sarah in her horn, and releasing them in blades. Amber managed to perfectly mimic a razor wind attack with psychic power, though her strike reminded me more of a cannonball.

The attacks struck each other and exploded, sending both pokemon in either direction, tumbling along the ground. Sarah was injured slightly, Amber was not. I bolted up to Amber and drove my shadow claw at the espeon. I expected her to either change into a new form and intercept, or go back to eevee form to avoid impact entirely and throw me off balance. The former was flashy and would excite the audience, the other was tactically more valid.

Amber chose the first, becoming a pokemon I identified as a leafeon and slamming leaf blades that came from her paws like claws into my shadow claw. It seemed to be sword fight time, with claws again. I knew this game, and Amber had seen it before.

The blows were faster paced than between Daemyn and I. I interlocked my claws with her and we both pulled our paws to the side to release the energy blades from each other. Amber did a spin, becoming a vaporeon as she did to multitask and be unaffected by the water pulse attack as well as making her tail longer and heavier so that I would have to rear up to avoid it.

She was a leafeon again by the time I brought my claws down on her, me finding my spectral weapons blocked by the leaf blade claws again. This whole exchange was over in one second. Amber truly was skilled as well as strong.

I reared up as our claws connected again, pointing my other forepaw right at her chest and began to 'unsheathe' another set of claws. However, Amber smacked my paw upward enough to make the claws pass over her head harmlessly, and with us both on our hind legs, she smacked her free paw into my chestplate and the air vibrated from the force as I was sent sailing a good hundred meters away from a simple pawstrike.

As I skidded to a stop, I saw Amber shifting into a glaceon and releasing an incredibly powerful aurora beam onto the ground, which spread and turned the entire arena into an ice skating rink.

 _Oh… Okay._

I got the hang of using my claws to change my direction properly in a few seconds, though Sarah was having a bit more trouble. Shedinja, of course, didn't have a care in the world about that. Amber the glaceon froze him with an ice beam and then skated away as if she was wearing ice skates or something. I guess she had practiced gliding around on the ice.

Shedinja sank into the ground, breaking the ice cube that surrounded him as he did, and melted into his shadow again, chasing after Amber.

I slid up to Sarah. "Dig your claws in very slightly, and use them to steer yourself," I explained, moving forward. We moved at a much slower pace than we could have with more practice, however.

So it was all Shedinja and Amber right now. They moved at equal speeds, Amber effortlessly keeping up with Shedinja's shadow sneak. The two were racing now, Shedinja trying to find a way to make Amber crash into something.

Amber suddenly banked left. Shedinja rose out of the ground and fired a shadow ball perfectly to intercept her, and Amber **jumped**. She was a flareon in the air, blasting a ball of fire at Shedinja, and then she was a glaceon in time to land on the ground and continue moving.

Shedinja had the fortune to disappear as quickly as possible on impulse, and managed to get away, but Amber offered no more chances to attack at all. She became a flareon and roasted a whole area of the field to stand properly on, on which we joined her.

Sarah took the opportunity this time. She gathered her energy, and unleashed a flamethrower at Amber, who was still in her flareon form. Amber obviously didn't change at all, but Sarah also fired a water pulse at the same time, because it didn't really require her mouth to be used.

Amber was blasted away and landed on the ice, sliding along it while her increasing body heat melted it as she went, making an excellent path for me to run along as she slid to a stop.

I leapt up and over the burst of flame that likely would have instantly defeated me, and I brought a slash attack down on Amber. The girl again blocked the attack with her leaf blade, though this time she did it by making her tail glow with that energy.

One of the things I developed in the past few days was the use of my slash attack with my tail.

I gathered a night slash on my horn and kept it there to be used as a physical weapon, generated a slash attack on my tail, and generated a shadow claw. I traded more blows with Amber. This was more of a game of making the audience excited more and more, so I was somersaulting in the air to strike using my tail and generally keeping the leafeon in close quarters.

Sarah now chose a more direct method of travel through the ice, using a constant, low-level flamethrower as she ran along it and clearing a path for herself. Shedinja came up on Amber's left, Sarah on her fight, and I was swinging my night slash to throw it dead on.

Amber did something spectacular and unprecedented. She jumped right over me and let me get cooked by Sarah's attack while Shedinja tried to avoid collateral damage by chasing Amber instead. I winced as I looked at my blackened fur while Sarah got into this whole apologizing fest while the audience laughed at us.

"Let's move." I said, turning around and running, Sarah joining me, still worried about whether my feelings were hurt or if I was hurt. I wish she wouldn't be so attached to me. It was beginning to become mildly irritating again.

I ran towards Amber and Shedinja, only to realize we were a few seconds too slow. Shedinja came out directly underneath Amber with his shadow sneak, but Amber was an eevee again and thus undamaged. She was about a foot above Shedinja when she said: "I'm sorry about this!"

She became and umbreon and summoned a shadow claw straight into Shedinja's shell, which was blasted into the ground hard enough to create a very large crater and knock us back with the debris. Shedinja was down.

 _Good one, Amber._

I ran forward, preparing to catch Amber off guard as she began to land, but she was very quickly an espeon and she controlled the loose dirt to make a wall around herself that I had to jump. I was lucky I did jump, because Sarah just punched through the dirt with a water pulse. Amber was a vaporeon on the other side. I dropped straight down with my night slash prepared to hit her directly in the spine with it.

I succeeded, because Amber was busy turning into a flareon in anticipation of Sarah's fire attack that wasn't coming because Sarah knew that I was on the other side. She took the impact, showing surprise within her eyes, and she then whirled and punched me right in the face with her paw.

 _Crickey, that hurt!_

I blacked out momentarily, and upon my waking up, I was splayed out on some ice. I blinked a few times as I struggled to my feet and looked at the aftermath. Sarah was too close to Amber, and Amber bounded up with an invisible speed, and opened her mouth. In her vaporeon form, she unleashed enough water to flood a decent sized village.

We would be underwater soon, as the water kept erupting from Amber's mouth. Laws of physics be damned, she was about to turn her arena into a freaking aquarium. Sarah was undoubtedly unconscious under that kind of pressure. I knew that she would be fine.

The waters crashed around me, picking me up and taking me with the current. My face still hurt, and I suspected that my snout had likely been broken somewhere. I wished she had hit me on the chestplate again instead.

I had used a lot of my type aura, and I knew that my defenses were dropping with each attack I used. I had to continue, however. I could breathe the water just fine, as the arena had something for everything to keep people in good condition. Magic stuff.

I swam to the surface anyways, paddling a bit and hoping that this would not turn into 'Jaws' with Amber the vaporeon swimming around. Thankfully, she decided to give me a fighting chance by coming up as an espeon and using an immense degree of psychic energy, brought an entire portion of the land up to her, standing on the rocky surface. It was the opposite of level, and we were maybe about halfway up the stands, so a lot of people were watching it from below, through the water. They were likely glad that the water was contained by the magical barrier.

I clambered onto the surface, shaking myself off. "That… Is a lot of water." I proclaimed dramatically, catching everyone's attention. It occurred to me that anyone who couldn't see it through the water would see it on the magic images that seemed to show everything about the battle.

Knowing that the entire known world was going to know exactly how this battle went, either right here or through stories as the stragglers heard of it, I stepped up and unsheathed my shadow claw and activated my night slash and slash attacks in their proper places once more.

 _These dramatics are uncomfortable. I will need to keep acting as if I mean some of those dramatic words._

Amber became a leafeon again. Every leaflike extremity on her body became coated in the blade-like green energy of leaf blade, and her leaf blade claws appeared again in her outstretched paws. She had two more blades than I did, with her ears.

"...A thank you is probably in order." Amber told me.

"Please, save it for the end of the day." I requested. She nodded, and I crouched slightly.

What followed was a truly impressive display of combat as Amber's power made mine look pathetic and my skill with a blade made her skill seem somewhat less impressive. She told me somewhere in there that if she wasn't inexplicably powerful, she would have lost a thousand times over to me.

"You'll get it eventually." I assured her "Having no limits physically is entirely irrelevant to the progress of the mind. You have plenty to learn, even if that has little to do with combat itself. You are obviously well versed in variety."

I clashed with her again. She was letting me do this properly, only putting in enough strength to push me back slightly whenever this happened, humoring me and the audience.

Eventually, I decided to change tactics. I leapt back and generated the largest psycho cut I could manage, letting my psychic energy drain away a decent amount, before driving the blade through the air at her.

She became and umbreon and nullified it, but her eyes widened as she was then smacked into the water by my follow up of a shadow claw when she thought she was safer than she was. She flew off of the platform and into the water.

I looked at the water, wondering when she was going to come up. I felt her swimming around underneath the water, invisible to the naked eye but clearly visible to my absol senses. I frowned when she started swimming rapidly away.

Then I felt her turn around a great distance away from me. My frowned deeper, and then that frown stuck in place as I looked up.

And up.

And up some more.

 _My, that is a rather large wave…_

I was flabbergasted that there were even waves that size. Tsunamis had nothing on this one. I flung a night slash at it, which only split some of the water. I stood there with a rather blank expression, and almost just accepted my fate before I had a better idea.

I slipped into the water behind the pillar of rock that Amber had raised and dug my shadow claws into the stone, all four paws connected firmly to it as the wave struck the water above, the currents becoming something horrid, starting to tear apart the pillar, including the part that I was on. I had time to mentally utter a curse before the stone I was on was torn away and sent through the water. I released it, retracting my shadow claws and was taken away by the current, but not heavily damaged.

Considering the arena was a no drowning zone, I was content to allow this to continue until I could paddle back upwards and finally, finally surface up on the platform again. Everyone roared their approval that I was still conscious, though I did have to spit out some water now that I was above it again. Must have been a glitch in the magical effect or something.

 _Could magic glitch like a program might? Adding this to my list of things to study eventually._

Amber hopped up onto the platform and became an eevee again. I huffed heavily. "Good show, Amber." I congratulated her "I'm not down yet, however."

I began building as much dark energy as I had into my horn, feeling the last of my major source of added defenses fade away and I generated a very large blade of darkness. I poured the very last of my ghost type energy into my front shadow claw. Our platform was utterly torn apart, barely enough room for the both of us above still raging waters. If it wasn't for the blue sky rather than thunder and lightning, this might have been a climactic moment.

I raised my horn and my paw to be parallel with each other, and started my downward swing. Amber's light pink tetra element piece flashed, and she changed in a bright glow that hurt my eyes. I brought the blades down and heard the impact, though y energy just seemed to die away.

Whatever she did, she wasn't immune, but she shrugged it off like it was nothing. The ground under her part of the platform crumbled and gave away, but while I was blinking spots out of my eyes, I felt something wrap around my legs and body and lift me up while Amber stepped onto the last available spot on the platform; My area.

I finally managed to look at her, wincing at the burning sensation I felt. She was white and pink, and she had ribbons coming from bows on her neck and ear, and they were wrapped around me and lifting me up. The burning sensation was coming from the ribbons, and I saw smoke curling from my skin where she was touching me. I would have to ask her about that.

My calm attitude weakened slightly when she generated a bright pink sphere of energy in her mouth, aiming it straight at me. "I'm sorry, Caleb, but this is gonna hurt." Amber apologized even as she began to launch the attack.

"Oh…" I muttered "Son of a-"

 **BOOM.**

* * *

❊ **Amber's POV ❊**

I released the unconscious absol from my ribbons and let him down onto the rock surface that took up all of three square feet. It was rather crowded, and it kept crumbling. No doubt about it: Caleb was tough as nails. But I hadn't broken a real sweat over anything, and I wasn't about to start now.

Caleb had made it clear that he would hold nothing against me, and I guess I just kind of did what he wanted me to do. I understood his game now. At the expense of himself, he had gone and made me… What? He had made me possibly the most popular person on the planet, that's what. Instead of fearing what I could do, they celebrated it. Instead of being jealous of my ability to switch eeveelutions over time, they were cheering me on, enjoying it.

I smiled to myself. The guy I had just blown up was probably the nicest guy I had ever met. I didn't know. I didn't have my human memories, but Caleb was definitely the nicest guy I know now, and I'll bet that a lot of my worries are practically null and void now.

Maybe it was time to be a little less afraid. I smiled as I was teleported off of the arena while pokemon were sent to handle the damage. Easier to clean than a giant freaking crater where the arena used to be.

My teammates stood by me, smiling. Charizard was laughing hard. Absol was giving a simple small smile, and Magnezone's magnet extensions were lighting up and flashing.

"The teleported me out of there the moment water got involved," Charizard explained "I watched that epic finish from here. You were playing with him, but I think he was counting on it."

"Yes," Absol confirmed "I can still hear the cheers. He did it for you, Amber, and the way he did it was impressive to say the least."

"G-Gengar and his team have not been seen since the battle-e" Magnezone warbled "H-however, it is likely that their days of antagonizing you are over-r"

I smiled and just kind of laid down there on the ground. "Physically, I'm fine. Mentally, I'm tired. I thought Caleb was betraying me at first, but everyone out there... " I trailed off. Caleb was the kind of person who would and could change the world. "...I do wish he didn't spend so much energy on me, though. If he got nothing out of it, it might not feel like he should have spent that much energy on me. I would have felt bad, because he just could have avoided this tournament altogether."

Absol walked over and sat by me. "He does seem to be a workaholic" my friend commented "It's not healthy. What say we go make sure he gets some sleep before we go to bed tonight? I am certain that he needs it."

"The dip's probably stayed up all night on numerous occasions," Charizard muttered.

"I-interesting how a single being can be accurately described as a genius and a 'dip' at the same time-e" Magnezone warbled. Charizard chuckled at this, though Absol remained quiet. His smirk told me that he was amused.

I felt like laughing, too. So I did. "One hypnosis coming right up." I proclaimed "Maybe two if Absol tries to stay awake again."

"Yes, yes, I get your point," Absol muttered while the rest of us laughed at him.

We then found ourselves in the stands again. Why it had taken so long, I wasn't sure. But Caleb was there. Sarah was nuzzling him predictably, which he seemed to be completely ignoring, not even acknowledging.

Erza and Daemyn sat together, their teams nearby. All were smiling. Team Destiny Bond, team Valor, team Eternal flame, and a lot of others are also giving me their support as I walked up to them.

I was slightly scared of the attention I was getting. Why wouldn't I be?

"I will arrange for others to give you some space for a while until the overall effect dies out,"Caleb told me.

 _Maybe that's why I wouldn't be._

Sarah smiled at me. "If anybody causes you an issue, you only need to come to us," she promised.

 _Sarah's not torching me for hurting Caleb right now. She's being kind to me instead…_

"We got your back kid, even if you don't need it," Erza promised.

 _Erza's my friend. She's been my friend since the beginning, and I feel more talkative around her…_

"I think I have it in me to agree with the hothead here," Daemyn smirked jokingly.

 _And they are all so happy and carefree right now… Even Caleb looks like it, and Sarah's not bothering to refute the hothead thing…_

"That was awesome!" Shulk and Austburn exclaimed, the two young friends hanging out near each other. Snowshy and Keron kept an eye on Shulk, but only Keron seemed to be considering doing anything about it. His mate was surreptitiously keeping him from doing anything.

 _People are getting along just fine, except for Keron and Shade…_

"Hmph." a new voice made me jump. Behind me stood Shade, with a grudging amount of minor respect in her eyes. She didn't say anything more, but she wound up hanging out nearby the ground (kind of).

 _Shade doesn't seem as scary without the mask, though her crystal still freaked me out really bad._

"Shade, may I ask-" Caleb started.

"No. You may not." Shade responded without looking.

"Wow. You just got shot down really bad." Jess said, patting the rather startled absol on the back before Jake joined her.

 _And Jake's team is really nice. I've found two other human-turned pokemon people here, and they understand me very well._

"Scientific query **denied**." Erza laughed at him.

Absol chuckled. "Indeed."

 _And my team is getting along with them too…_

Caleb's blank expression, drawn from having been denied any sort of information about the crystal, had a lot of people laughing at him. It was kind of funny, how he looked right now. If he adopted that expression every time he was s suddenly shot down…

 _...Why am I still afraid?_

Looking at all of them, remembering that I've always been afraid of something, whether it be Daemyn or Sarah or someone else, fearing people like Keron or Shade when they do something dark and scary, with nasty results. Fearing attention brought by others, not wanting to be swarmed by people, whether they have good intentions or bad intentions… Fear of accidentally hurting others.

But after this, I began to realize….

"Woo!" Jess exclaimed with a smile aimed at me, celebrating my own victory while her paw whacked Jake in the face by accident, sending the raichu tumbling back while Jess looked over her shoulder and ran to pick him up.

"Nice, Jess." Swampert chuckled while Jake sat up too quickly and accidentally bonked heads with Jess as the pikachu went to pull him up just as he was sitting up.

"That dragon thing was awesome!" Skyfall said to Shade, who was pointedly trying to ignore him.

"I'll get him out of there," Goldfinger muttered, walking across to extract his adopted son from the situation he was getting himself into.

"Alright," Goldeneye replied as she casually nullified one of Braixen's spells mid-flight, preventing yet another prank. She did it without looking, pointing her wand behind her and casting the magic wordlessly.

While those four did their usual thing, Magnezone and Shedinja hung back and just sort of conversing in a way that they seemed to manage. They kept an eye on Daemyn, who was talking with Sarah while Caleb kept some much-needed distance from the red absol whilst Daemyn took one for the team just for Caleb.

I began to realize something very odd, and very important.

"Where do you think **you're** going?" Sarah jumped over to Caleb, who was attempting to slink away, only to start being nuzzled again before he slammed her into the dirt with his paw.

"Some assistance, Daemyn?" Caleb requested.

"Yeah," he replied "I let her go. My apolo-"

 **CLANG!**

Erza was on top of Daemyn, who was splayed out on the ground. She stood on his back, flail in hand. "What were you saying?" she asked cheerfully as Caleb watched with Sarah ignoring what was going on again.

"You all certainly are an interesting group of pokemon." Ninetales mused from where she was calmly sitting on standby in case things got unfortunate, as they might with the flail user swinging her weapon around.

"They are interesting," Alger confirmed, right next to the ninetales.

"I agree." Space nodded with his arms crossed.

I wasn't.

"Dad, can I go play with Shulk and Austburn?"

"Of course, Kemuri." Redmund replied while Vulnona smiled at her daughter. Said daughter ran over to play with the other kids. While Charizard had flapped over to speak with Glurak and Gunner, Gunjin had managed to join Shino in a conversation about swordplay with Caleb, who did proclaim that his fighting style had changed permanently to the normal absol swordplay style with his horn and tail after Crystal Star shattered.

I listened to him quietly explaining to the two what had happened with the weapon, and I **still** wasn't so afraid.

I watched Absol start talking with Erza about battle strategy, careful to avoid apologizing. Despite the fact that Erza was stood upon Daemyn's unconscious form still, with her flail still in hand, I wasn't afraid.

Shade growling at Skyfall to leave her along as Goldfinger led his kid away from her.

Goldeneye blocking Braixen's sneaky attempt at using some sort of magic again, whoever the target was. That fox was trying her best to get away with **something**.

Caleb wrapping up the horror story that he was apparently requested to tell to the other sword wielding pokemon.

Swampert and Charizard talking about physical strength… All of the things I was seeing or hearing…

"That was the day I failed."

"Oops… Kind of forgot I was standing on him. Sorry, Daemyn."

"Oh, Caleb~"

"Please calm down, Sarah."

"Leave me alone, brat."

"Come on, son. Let us retreat from this zoroark…. If she is entirely a zoroark. She's dangerous."

"Jess, why do you keep glancing at me?"

"I'm not, Jake! You keep glancing at me!"

"Cute, aren't they?"

"Odd that you are thinking about someone else's relationship, Ninetales."

"These children had a… influence on me."

"Ugh… Erza, I thought you reserved that flail for Caleb's apologizing?"

"No, that's **everybody**."

I wasn't afraid.

I felt some tears well up in my eyes. None of these people scared me at all. I felt… Normal. Like I was closer to who I was supposed to be than ever before. I was just so… Happy. Everything felt all right for once, and with everyone here advocating for me, like Caleb, or even reluctantly, like Shade or possibly Keron, I didn't think that would ever change.

I stepped forward to join the mess of conversations occurring around me.

* * *

 **Aright! Things are now wrapped up! ...For the first part of the tournament. Yes, there is more to go technically, but we all know that the rest is a formality of sorts. I think we all know who the winner is. Now, I think that chapter was full of interesting things.**

 **Shade's crystal is a bit more than anybody might have expected unless you caught the hint about what it does before.**

 **Gallade thinks he and Caleb share a connection.**

 **OP Amber is OP.**

 **Eventually, one has to sit back and wonder what kind of things could possibly surprise you now, and I am certain that I will continue to do so over time. I just have to work a little harder at it.**

 **Please review, tell me what you think, and have a nice day, everyone. Thank you for reading, all of you.**


	17. Chapter Seventeen

**Hello, once again Audience.**

 **TAC2 again. Huh? Wasn't this supposed to be New Age, Hyperjade? Yes. However, I just kind of... Didn't do that and did this instead. So New Age is getting a chapter before the NEXT TAC2 chapter, and after the next Kitsune and the Jackal chapter. So that's the itinerary.**

 **Amber: Uh... Should we get to reviews?**

 **Me: Yes. Thank you, Amber. To start off, we have LucarioKing1008. I am so happy that this is your favorite story. To know that I am doing exactly what I am meaning to. As for your one question, well, I can't directly answer. But there are definite clues in the recent chapter to answer your question.**

 **Djsoresupon3: Hey, I know that you already had your review answered, but I'm happy to answer it again; I have exactly what you wanted in this chapter. Thank you for your praise, and You're probably set to pump your fist in the air once more.**

 **I think that you will be surprised at the route that this chapter takes, Zero Lunar. The significance of Caleb's gem will have to wait because they don't exactly have the greatest of relations with Gallade at the moment.**

 **Amber: Zlaxe's got a lot of shenanigans in his review...**

 **Me: Tell me about it. And Jango's not here to see it. At any rate, Thank you both for reviewing, and your shenanigans. You really ought to keep up your sleep schedule, you and Raven both. Speaking of Raven, yes, glorious dark dragon transformation, I agree. Though it was more like a zoroark-dark dragon hybrid form. I actually have hints about the type of dragon it is in this story as well. You get your sleep too.**

 **No idea what you mean with that last bit, Phillip Harbindinger, but as for your second line... That's why Amber's an eevee in the first place, really. Everyone likes eevee, whether it's their first favorite or not.**

 **Thank you, guest, and thanks for the review.**

 **What Lies Beyond: The fact that they were revealed in order of generation was not intentional, but I guess so. Jolteon was omitted because there was no real reason for Amber to use jolteon. Sarah's got a lot of long range stuff, but no electricity. It was indeed the first mega evolution you guys saw, yes.**

 **And West. Awfully good questions, West. As for the questions not relating to Gallade: 1: Spoilers. 2: Potential spoilers for Jango.**

 **Amber: I'm here to keep Jango in line, 'cause Hyper asked me to.**

 **Me: And grateful for it. I'm sure Alger is busy, eh? I hope you're all right.**

 ***Ja** **ngo walks in"**

 **Amber: Jango... What is that?**

 **Jango: Delicious, delicious pizza. *Takes a big bite***

 **Me: Ah... Jango... Do I want to know whose pizza that is?**

 **Jango: Dunno, but I think somebody got mad over it. There was an explosion and stuff after I got away scot free. Want a bite?**

 **Amber: ...No thank you.**

 **Me: Uh oh... Chapter start!**

* * *

 **Chapter 17: Interlude**

❊ **Amber's POV ❊**

Caleb plodded along next to me and Sarah as we went home for the day. He looked very tired. In fact, he looked extremely tired. Something occurred to me while seeing him like that. The tournament was now over. Days later. I felt like I was slipping slightly again, considering I knocked that giant aggron through the magic barrier and all the way to sky peak on accident…

But that wasn't important. What was important was that Caleb looked very, very tired, even though he hadn't been fighting lately.

"Caleb, how much have you been sleeping?" I asked.

"I've been wondering that too…" Sarah murmured. "You're a lot more exhausted than you…"

She trailed off because Caleb had started to look right as rain the moment I started speaking. "I assure you, I'm fine," he lied.

Daemyn stopped walking. "Nonsense," he said. "I know you, Caleb."

"I keep checking to make sure he's asleep, and then I sleep, but he's so quiet and such… I don't wake up if he gets up, and I don't know if he gets up."

I shifted into my espeon form. Yes, right there in the middle of public. Everyone had seen it anyways. "Caleb, you are going to need sleep tonight, and possibly tomorrow."

"So help me I **will** sic Chimecho on you." Daemyn threatened out of the blue, and while I looked at him weirdly, as did a bunch of us, Caleb looked **afraid.**

"You wouldn't!" He exclaimed.

"In a heartbeat. You need sleep." Daemyn said.

"Nonsense! I have to piece together strategies for the secondary part of the tournament and perhaps find ways to predetermine where the treasures they will be hiding across the region will be from the start. I have to set everything in motion, help Shedinja train in the use of shadow sneak to be perfectly effective, train Sarah's other elements and bring them to the surface so that she might use them easier, possibly traveling to find new technical machines for her to use…" Caleb continued after that, listing days worth of things to be done.

I needed him to sleep fast. He was talking as if he was practically delirious. After an approving nod from Absol, I stepped forward. Actually, everyone stepped forward, circling in on him.

"You will sleep," Erza told him. He was utterly trapped in a circle of his friends who were glowering at him.

"I am far too busy for-"

 **FLASH!**

Caleb dropped to the ground, eyes closed, snoring slightly. My mouth tightened as I tried not to grimace, but that needed to be done. "He'll be out until next morning," I explained, as everyone turned to me. They looked surprised. "...What? I do this to Absol all the time. He's bad at sleeping too."

"I would prefer not to have Chimecho sent after me. If it scares Caleb, count me out." Absol muttered.

"If it scares Caleb, count **everyone** out." Erza nodded, hoisting the absol up. "Let's get him to the guild."

"I'll carry him." Sarah offered. I blinked, knowing what Sarah would be doing, but Erza shrugged and draped the unconscious absol over his teammate's back not unlike how a kit would ride their parent. Caleb would be so embarrassed if he woke right now.

But Daemyn and Sarah took Caleb back to the guild while the rest of us started talking. "I think it's time that we all get some sleep or something, actually." Erza supplied.

Most of us wearily nodded and went our separate ways, though I still stayed with Erza. "Erza, what do you think Caleb is going to think when he wakes up?"

Erza waved off my worried tone. "Eh, he'll vow to not be caught by that trick of yours ever again and forget that it happened," she told me. "And then we'll have to resort to… Other means of inducing sleep."

I shivered after she said that in **that** tone. Geez, that was disconcerting. It was the tone that meant that the flail was going to be a factor, and possibly the rapier too.

"Well…" I said with a sweat drop on my head "I'll let you get to that."

Even though not much had been done as a group today, I walked off with my team in tow.

* * *

 **Caleb's POV**

"Urgh…" I muttered in a rather unceremonious way as I opened my eyes. The kits were energetic, and I was **not**. Amaterasu was finding humor in my being knocked out by Amber of all people basically unprovoked. I was **not**. Riley reading my books. I did some of that too, actually.

I was absolutely unsurprised to see Sarah looking down at me, her muzzle very close to mine. My eyes narrowed about a micrometer, and she backed up a bit so that I could get up. I looked her in the eye with my tired, half closed and sleepy eyes. She looked kind of cute with that look on her face…

 _Dammit. Ninetales' curse must have run out. Unfortunate._

I forced myself to walk right by her on my way out. I would not give her another glance, I would **ignore** her scent, I would pretend that my flank didn't feel very warm, which alerted me that Sarah with her above average body temperature had slept right next to me, was not relevant.

I succeeded, getting out of there. She followed me, but I was on a mission that boiled down to escaping and not thinking about Sarah. Which I just failed at doing.

Daemyn saved me at the entrance to the next floor. "Daemyn, my good friend, I need help," I announced, walking into the room "One: Where is Ninetales, and two: how can I stay away from Sarah?"

I could **feel** Sarah's face changing as she heard me.

Daemyn looked somewhat uncomfortable, and my usually predominant analytical side kicked into high gear. I blinked and focused on him. "What do you need?" I asked, forgetting what I needed.

"I was thinking... We're friends, right?" Daemyn asked me. I nodded once, and he continued rather awkwardly "Because we haven't had a real conversation in a long time. Just… Antics and banter, but no real conversation at all."

I tilted my head. "What do you suggest?"

"Seeing as you need to get away from Sarah, and can't really be around girls for a while, why don't we just kind of go walk somewhere? We have a lot to talk about." Daemyn suggested.

I honestly, really liked the sound of that. "That sounds swell." I proclaimed. I turned to Sarah, and Shedinja, who had popped up behind Sarah. "You two do whatever you want… As long as it does not involve following Daemyn or I." I told her, and she hesitated before nodding.

" **Shedinja**."

I recognized that Sarah was acting more in control of herself. Perhaps once she gets what she wants, she loses that lust for a while. It escalated over time… Perhaps it was a mental thing that I could try and have Ninetales fix.

Or perhaps not. Her puppy dog eyes were cute-...

I made a hasty retreat for the ladder, and Daemyn followed me without much hesitation.

"I hate instincts," I grumbled.

"I feel you. It's hassling me too." Daemyn agreed.

"Let's go somewhere within walking distance at least. Perhaps across the bay from treasure town." I suggested, "Is that a common location for people to bother with?"

"Not unless they're going to brine cave and everyone's kind of doing other stuff." Daemyn agreed. As we padded down the long flight of stairs to the crossroads, we stayed quiet. We didn't speak until we got into the grasslands and were lost to the untrained eye within the green of the fields.

Now we chatted aimlessly. It was interesting to do this again. I remembered having a rest day with him, as we both were in pain with different problems. And I hadn't noticed that anything was wrong, and couldn't investigate properly because the malevolent energy prevented Daemyn from talking about it.

That rest day had been something I enjoyed. Just… Talking. Like nothing was wrong with life, like two friends might have a conversation. I hadn't realized how much I was missing that. And it seemed that the two of us had grown separate a little bit during that time while I was busy with the tournament.

I found myself feeling guilty about spending so much time and energy on the tournament compared to talking and being with my friends. I also felt that guilt was ridiculous in this sense because I was elevating Amber on the social ladder, and elevating myself so that my eventual scientific findings would carry weight in the world of pokemon.

But guilt was still a factor.

We wound up at a beach, looking across the water. The land with treasure town was visible a great distance away, and it had taken three hours of meaningless conversation, but Daemyn and I laid down and settled down on the sand.

"Caleb, can I ask you something?" Daemyn asked quietly.

"Sure." I waved a paw for him to go ahead.

"...Who am I, really?" he asked.

I blinked. I hadn't seen this question coming. "What do you mean?" I asked.

"I mean, I have no idea how I am supposed to act or how I even want to act," he clarified "I've been struggling to find some sort of place after you set me straight in a matter of minutes… I can't compare to Amber's strength, I can't compare to Erza's skill in battle, I can't even remotely compare to your abilities in pretty much any regards… I feel like nobody at all, like I'm just kind of there."

I waited silently, letting that sink in, and he continued. "Like I'm not contributing at all. A background prop. Unimportant, and something feels really wrong about that."

I closed my eyes. "And you don't understand." I nodded. "You say you don't know who you are as a person, what to believe, what to think?"

"Yeah," Daemyn responded.

I gave him a smile. "Nonsense," I replied, "And I will show you why that's nonsense."

He tilted his head slightly, and I continued. "I propose that I begin a little game. I will give out a subject, and you will say the first thing that comes to mind." I announced. "...Ready?"

Daemyn looked down a bit dejectedly as if he did not see my point. My smile had done little to cheer him up, really. I wondered if this was what he had been hiding under all of that cheerfulness, in which case that is some impressive skill, or more likely, he had very recently begun to have these doubts and thoughts. I felt a pain somewhere in my chest looking at the look in his eye, hoping I wouldn't have to see that particular expression again. A sad look never did belong on Daemyn. "As ready as I'll ever be," he muttered.

"Water."

"Wet. What does that accomplish?"

"Play along. Education."

"Sleep-inducing."

"Mathematics"

"Just say 'math'."

"Shedinja."

"Quotes can be fun."

 _For all my self-control, I nearly laughed._ "Time limit."

"Stressful."

"Painting."

"The action or the item? I mean-"

"Computers."

"Hey, hang on, I didn't respond to the last one!"

"Computers," I replied stubbornly.

"You mentioned them a few times."

"Favorite game."

"anything with friendly competition."

"Queen Ninetales."

"Uh… Wha-?"

"Sarah"

"Difficult."

"Erza."

"Headstrong."

"Jake."

"Not what I would expect from a human, considering I pretty much met you first."

"Amber."

"She's too sweet to have to deal with her burden."

"Machoke and Bastiodon."

"My teammates."

"A sword."

"Completely changes the combat system."

" **My** sword."

"Thank Arceus that damn thing shattered into a million pieces."

"How do you calculate the volume of a sphere?"

"...Huh?"

"My math lessons."

"Only paid attention because you're my friend. As much as I could."

"Instincts."

"Nasty, headache-inducing stuff."

"Palkia."

"Surprisingly helpful, considering he's a god."

"...Me."

"A genius, and my best friend."

"Mystery dungeons."

"Time-consuming obstacles."

"..." I stopped talking.

Daemyn gave me an odd look. "What was that supposed to accomplish?" he asked me, "There wasn't any point to that."

"And that's the problem," I said "You don't see the point. Partly because… And forgive my brutal honesty here, you aren't trying to see the point. You're just looking at it and saying 'I don't understand' without having a good look. Seeing versus understanding. I will tell you exactly why you had to answer that list or prompts that I honestly could have made a lot longer."

Thankfully, he was patience, not taking any offense at my comments. "First, you **do** know who you are. You just told me." I pointed out, and he looked quite confused.

"You get bored easily. You like to do things the easy way but won't go out of your way to find an easier way unless it is necessary. When given a general term, you clarified what it meant so that you could understand the question better, and you become irritated when interrupted or if someone is being cryptic. You enjoy friendly competition and battle, you appreciate the value in adding new elements to competitions such as weapons, and you know that mystery dungeons in the majority are problematic."

"You think Sarah is difficult to handle, you think Jake is more like the average pokemon in personality than you expected, you gave a nice solid description of Erza, though you did not take into account that she too has trouble understanding how she should act, and believes that there is a certain way that she is supposed to act. You understand that Amber's sheer power really isn't a gift. You are not close friends with your teammates, and yet you work well with them anyways. You have expectations of people and are surprised when they go off track of those expectations, like Palkia did.

"You are kind, loyal, and a good friend, and you try to pay attention to things even if they are boring if the one speaking to you is your friend. You called me a genius without hesitation, and I am proud, very, very **proud** to be considered your best friend."

He stared at me as I finally shut up and relaxed a bit. The silence lasted for several minutes before I quietly said: "You know exactly who you are. Exactly what you can be, and maybe you're in the background a lot, but to be honest, that is my fault. I make it my business to be busy, and it takes time away from friendly conversation. I must keep myself doing what I am supposed to do to find out how the world works, and then advance the world as I must, but if you want to have a friendly conversation…"

"I just have to ask you," Daemyn responded, smiling. I smiled as well. He still understood me very well. We were friends, after all. "That's… Wow. You really are a genius."

"Thank you," I replied.

"So… I guess I shouldn't take that whole questioning thing literally. I should still think things through." he figured.

"Absolutely. Choose your words carefully, choose your topics and points quickly." I responded. "And now, onto the topics of the other things I noticed. You agree with me on the concept of instinct and how it proves a hindrance, and you were borderline blushing when I mentioned Ninetales. Does that have anything to do with your opinion on instinct?"

"Well, yeah," Daemyn responded. "I mean, I practically fell for Sarah hard just by being near her when she was hassling you when you were trying to find a way home… And everything went downhill from there, but if that hadn't happened…"

He shuddered. "if I hadn't fallen in love for no apparent reason with Sarah, then she would not have nearly died." he muttered.

"Don't do that." I reprimanded him. "You also know that if it had turned out any differently at all, you would have been turned into a monster somewhere else and a lot more people could have been hurt or even killed before someone either fixed the problem and killed you. Daemyn… If that hadn't happened the way it did, I might have stepped through that portal, and I would never have known that my good friend was turned into a murderer against his will, and maybe killed at the same time. That would have been a horrifying enough thought, but if I somehow found out once I was home, you can't imagine how destroyed I would be. Possibly similar to what happened when I failed to go through the portal in the first place."

Daemyn stared at me.

"We were insanely lucky that day, because if it had happened any other way, someone might have died. No matter how frightening it was, the others pulled it off, fought us off, and saved themselves and us in the process." I wrapped up my speech.

Daemyn's head lowed until it rested on the sand. "Yeah… You're right. I just wish that we had managed to avoid all that in the first place. Even though you explained that a lot of reasoning led to you staying, we still could have done things differently, and you'd be home right now. And if we had told you that you became a monster… We wouldn't have done that. You're our friend, and we wanted you to at least be happy. But if we had… You would have gone through that portal even with all of your misgivings."

"A difficult choice," I agreed "To choose between being home and knowing that my final act was attempting to kill my friends and being here, having lost everything. But it was my choice in the end. Do not blame you for my decision."

"...Do you still think it was a mistake?" Daemyn asked me, looking up.

Did I think it was a mistake? "...Either decision would have been a mistake." I eventually said about a minute later after considering. "No matter what I did, I would have regretted it for as long as I can forsee. I may have recovered eventually, but it would be impossible to tell under which circumstances would lead to me recovering faster or coming out better of it. I had a future in both worlds, and both of them were likely going to be successful… Unless I made the attempt to starve myself."

"That was kinda dumb." Daemyn agreed with my last sentence "But yeah. There really wasn't a 'better of the two' thing at all, huh?" I merely nodded, and he continued. "But as horrible as it might sound to you, and as horrible as it sounds to my own ears… We just had a discussion about me knowing who I am and what I think."

He traced his paw through the sand. "I'm glad you chose this world."

I nodded curtly, understanding his words. And I felt… Better. "Thank you, Daemyn. I think… I think I needed that from you."

"Welcome."

We stopped talking for a while, listening to the ocean beat down on the sand next to us. The wind whistling through the occasional tree.

"...I feel that you would like to talk about queen Ninetales." I suggested eventually. "You got rather flustered when I mentioned her name, which is what I suspected would happen."

"Totally got set up by my best friend…" Daemyn mock-sulked "Yeah, fine. That's part of the reason why instincts are annoying me. I mean, I get crushed by Sarah's never-ending attachment to you, and after the whole event, my affection for her just kind of… Died out. And now I'm finding myself looking forward to seeing a girl who's **ten times my freaking age**."

"Ninetale's age works differently. at one hundred and eighty she is the equivalent of an eighteen-year-old."

"Yeah, but she's going to live to a **thousand**. I'm not. I wonder how any ninetales can manage to fall in love with people they're eventually going to lose." Daemyn explained. I frowned at that. It would certainly be a difficult choice for someone like Ninetales. And Daemyn couldn't possibly have no doubts about such a pairing.

"If you guys wind up liking each other, that hopefully would not be a barrier," I said slowly "However… The fact that she will be going back to act as acting guildmaster after the tournament in a region a great distance across the sea… That will be an obstacle."

He flinched. "I didn't think of that…" he whispered.

"Long distance relationships are typically rough, from what I know, and it is reasonable that they would be here, but I am going to take a stance that I generally **completely** forget about on a daily basis, and say that you could probably find some way to use magic to communicate instantaneously. With all of the nonsense I see daily, I honestly wouldn't be surprised."

My words brought a brighter expression to his face, and his eyes lit up a bit. "Thanks, Caleb." he thanked me, gratitude filling his voice.

"Happy to help," I responded.

He laughed at me. "Eyup, that's you," he said "Even when it gets to self-destructive tendencies, you're there to help. You really should lay off on that a bit," he advised.

"You know that I have a lot to do and minimal time to do it," I said "The second portion of the tournament is a treasure hunt in a sense, in which the guildmasters, Queen Ninetales included, will be holding treasures in their possession within deep mystery dungeons scattered about. Unlike the first part of the tournament… And the third, honestly… This part is not a guaranteed victory for Amber because it is not centered around fighting and nobody will be truly forced to compete against Amber."

"I will set Amber to make you sleep. Maybe Chimecho can teach her a few tricks." Daemyn threatened with a hint of humor in his voice.

"What, teach her the psychic trick with the flag that she threatened to use on us?" I drawled dramatically.

"Absolutely."

"And you have **no** reason to believe that's going to backfire on you someday?" I said with a raised brow.

He grinned, and I chuckled.

"It's good to hear a laugh from you," Daemyn told me after I stopped.

"I am glad that you are not worse off from this discussion," I told him "And don't worry. Being in the background means you get to chuckle at the shenanigans happening around you without really getting involved, and being in the spotlight allows you to really make a difference. You can do a little of both, or one or the other… Whatever you want to do."

"You're a great guy, Daemyn." I complimented him. "You just need a little more confidence in areas that don't involve fighting."

"Thanks. Hey, I think I ought to talk to Ninetales or something. Get that off my chest. It's still kind of… In the air." Daemyn replied "What are you going to do with your day? And don't say continue planning. You are taking a rest day under my orders, and noncompliance earns you one of Erza's flails."

I sweatdropped at his threat. "Okay, goodness, Daemyn," I muttered "Fine. I think I'll find a quiet spot and just nap the day away. I am exhausted still."

"This is a quiet spot. You know, I think that Ninetales can wait another day. I think she's in a meeting today anyways." Daemyn murmured "I'll just.. stick around here for a while."

"And thus, nothing was accomplished by this conversation." I quipped, earning a snort from the mightyena facing me. We rested our heads in the sand, closing our eyes. Far enough away from each other that nobody could possibly get the wrong idea, but still just… Hanging out. Like friends who were tired after some sort of activity on the couch. I did not truly fall asleep, though I felt myself feeling more rested as minutes passed.

Daemyn eventually got tired of the sun beating down on his black fur (I gave an explanation regarding how the color black tends to absorb heat when he began to pant lightly) and rolled onto his back, where the hot sun would beat down on his stomach instead.

I almost copied him but reminded myself that I, first had a horn that would impede me, and second have white fur that reflected some of the heat instead. That being said, my coat was a permanent winter coat, so I was hot too. I took some time to reflect on the fact that I did need to pant to cool down.

I found that burying my paws in the sand helped cool me somewhat. That was good. At least only a **majority** of my body would overheat like this.

"Damn, it's hot," Daemyn muttered, finally getting to his feet about two hours later, "I think we should try and go into the brine cave. We'll go through that dungeon as a team of two, and we probably won't get our asses handed to us because we're tough like that."

I nodded at his proposal and stood up as well. The both of us shook the sand out of our pelts in unison, giving a smirk at each other as we realized this, and walked off to confront Brine Cave.

It turns out that Brine Cave makes Beach Cave look like a novice in of itself. It also turns out that fury swipes hurts a lot from these guys. Thank goodness for armor.

"Where can I get one of those?" Daemyn asked good-naturedly as he shadow-shotgunned the nearest dungeon pokemon far into the hall, defeated.

"I'd give you mine, but I don't think I can take it off at all," I replied, smirking. "Although, it has its uses."

"What did you call yourself that time?"

"A 'glass cannon'"

"Sounds fitting. The armor's for you, not for me." Daemyn attempted a shrug.

"Yes. You get the shotgun, I get the armor capable of repelling the shotgun. Mostly." I amended my statement. "Of course, it's not a literal shotgun, it's a shadow ball split apart into tiny pieces in an effect much like a shotgun. An actual shotgun… Well, they're nasty things. Tend to rip things apart when fired."

"One of those war things…" Daemyn muttered.

I remembered the first (and so far, last) day I was afflicted by confusion. Apparently, I had gone on about that a lot. Horrifying business. I wish that I didn't have adverse reactions to effects like that. Like that time someone started using that sing attack, or so I was told. I didn't make it past the first note, while Sarah only became drowsy and Shedinja was unaffected.

Wincing, I replied: "Yes. One of those war things."

"Hey, that's another pretty box." Daemyn scooped up what the defeated dungeon pokemon dropped. "That's like… **Five**. That's a lot for one trip."

"Xatu will be happy for our business." I nodded, dispatching another dungeon pokemon with my night slash so casually it was insulting. The blade curved to strike a weak point, as my ability activated and Super Luck came into play.

"I could beat this lot with my smallest toe right now," Daemyn muttered, "After you let me take down that monster house by myself and moxie activated repeatedly."

"Did you know that was my first monster house?" I asked, looking at him.

 **That** got me a look of surprise. "Are you serious?" he asked.

"Enemies dropping from the ceiling like rain? Yes. It's on my list of things to figure out on a scientific level."

"...Wow. I kind of thought you'd done it ten times before at least by the lack of surprise in your actions or even your eyes. What **does** scare you?"

"People believing that I can fall in love when I cannot." I murmured.

"..." Daemyn stopped walking. "'Cannot'?" he repeated.

"I can experience love, for family and in a protective sense, but I cannot romantically fall in love. At least, not without those blasted instincts. I would honestly prefer that it stay that way. That was one of the major differences between other children and myself in the human world. The disorder was… Relieving."

"You do have a different brain now." Daemyn reminded me "If you had some sort of permanent… Affliction that kept you from falling in love in a romantic sense, it would probably be gone at this moment."

"That is true. And worrying."

"Worrying that you might get a date for once in your life?" Daemyn teased me, planting his paw on my head and ruffling my head fur in a manner that reminded me of a human giving another a noogie. "Sounds like you're all soft and shy on the inside, and we both know **that's** not quite true."

"...Did you just call me soft and shy?" I asked, my expression one of blank astonishment.

He stared at that look for a while before bursting into uncontrollable laughter, which he did not even attempt to mute. It also attracted attention from the dull-eyed dungeon pokemon that were converging in the hallway.

"Is it odd for someone who's been a pokemon for mere months to be particularly powerful?" I asked, unleashing a psycho cut horizontally through the entire wave of pokemon, knocking them down and knocking most of them out.

"Yep," Daemyn replied, unleashing a large shadow ball the other way down the hall, which acted a lot like a bowling ball. The dog-like pokemon was excellent at manipulating that one attack into various different attacks. "On the other hand, all of you human turned pokemon folk seem to be really powerful."

I nodded at his observation. Jake had a lot of electricity, and Amber had no limits at all… And my own power seemed to have reached it's limits early, my attacks being as strong as they could get for an absol.

"We seem to be in the clear for the moment," Daemyn muttered minutes later. We were in an empty room with stuff all over the floor. It looked like a small treasure trove, actually. There was even a technical machine on one of the piles.

"Always valuable, these," I commented, pulling the reflective disk from the pile. "Want to explain what 'stone edge' does?"

"It varies." Daemyn replied as he walked up "for pokemon who are stronger in their long range techniques, it summons rings of jagged stones that are hurled at the enemy. For the others, it creates spikes or blades of rock on the appendage where they summon the rock type energy. It's all yours, by the way. I don't need it or want it."

"Thank you." I flipped the disk in the air with my teeth and let it bounce off my head, instantly teaching me the technique for stone edge.

 _Gather rock aura in my horn, the more energy, the bigger the blade, most effective when used in an upward strike against an opponent's stomach. A rock type technique is an important tool, which I shall have to conceal._

And Daemyn wouldn't say a word about it. I knew that, he knew that. I did need some practice. Oh, wait. I could practice in this dungeon full of enemies.

I focused, feeling the solid, immobile energy in my horn and forced it to move. It resisted; I had zero practice with rock type auras. I forced it to the edge of my horn, and a glowing white light started to shine around me. Jagged stones materialized in an odd array around my horn and slammed together to form a large blade of stone of a peculiar shape. It curved outwards a lot and thinned as it rose upwards.

"Neat blade," Daemyn commented as I hefted it. I quickly learned just how much strength was required to hold my head straight with a heavy set of rocks attached to it. "It suits you."

"The color clashes less than my psycho cut does." I noted, which was pretty much a given. Not that color mattered in any way at all, of course. It was just a topic of conversation.

"Yeah… Pink on black and white. Not so manly." Daemyn quipped as he looked around. "Well, give that a wave in that general direction," he pointed a paw at an approaching enemy.

I one shot the pokemon, sending it into the low ceiling with a mighty crash before dropping onto the floor, defeated.

And then the roof started to crack apart a bit.

"That's an interesting level of power, which makes sense. Stone edge is a very high powered move with an increased chance of hitting weak points. It should double down with your ability like… Pretty much all of your attacks do. Seriously, Caleb. Half of your hits should automatically curve into weak points with the stacked ability and effects of the moves. Your luck is awful." Daemyn told me.

"If you will excuse my language, it's bullshit," I muttered "My ability is Super Luck. **Super**. **Luck**. Implies being lucky."

"That it does. And you might have used up all your luck just coming here. Who says how you got here wasn't dangerous or something?"

Using up luck wasn't a real thing. I didn't say that, however. "I imagine that I would have woken up during the event if it was dangerous enough to hurt me. At least I would have been jolted awake when the change happened. Something made it painless and possibly instantaneous. I don't know what, and I do not know how. That, however, is of minor importance. I have many more relevant projects to undertake."

"Hmm." he replied.

I changed the topic as we walked on after pocketing what we thought would be useful in the future, placing the items in our bags. "I must say that I frankly know very little about your past, or Erza's, or a lot of people. It seemed to kind of not matter so much to any of us." I noticed "And I believe that should change."

"About me? Hmm…" he said quietly "Well, I hatched in a pretty small forest, with my family watching. Yeah, I do remember that image. No siblings at all, just me, mom, dad, and mom's brother. Nothing special about it really. Somewhere along the line I guess I just kind of started assuming that I was above others because they kept trying to beat me and couldn't. I became boastful, full of myself, and probably only made enemies, but I didn't notice. But my life was good. Great, actually."

"Hang on… Did you say… **Hatched**?" I asked him.

"Well, yeah. Pokemon hatch from eggs." Daemyn replied, giving me one of those looks that basically say 'is there any other way?' I was utterly flabbergasted. We were mammals! There had to be some other way, right?

But no, actually… I should not be jumping to assumptions. "...How are these eggs formed?" I asked, aware of the lack of, ah, parts that would normally be involved in the reproduction process on any pokemon.

"They just sort of appear." Daemyn carelessly replied "People think that's a physical product of a deep romantic connection between two pokemon. That's in terms you like, by the way. Most folks just say that the eggs appear when two pokemon are really, really in love."

"That doesn't make sense," I complained.

"Well, how does it work in your world?" he asked, "'Cuz that's what happens in this world."

My eye twitched. It had to be magic. Had to be. Magic nonsense dictated who was born in this world. Nothing scientific about it… Unless I found something in my studies, and I doubted it. I nearly forgot to answer Daemyn's question thinking about the weirdly legitimate insult to science that was magic.

"...In my world, humans have these organs. Organs are things like the heart and the lungs and such, but there are other organs, used for… Reproduction. Essentially, to birth a child takes effort and the baby has to grow inside of the mother for a period of roughly nine months, before they are born alive and breathing. No eggs, no magic. Nothing." I explained hesitantly.

"Sounds complicated, slow, risky, and potentially painful for the mother," Daemyn replied quickly, without hesitation. He summed the comparison up perfectly. Another reason this world was so perfect. Even reproduction had little to no risk at all, and because mutual affection seemed to be required, nobody could truly… Take advantage of one another.

I found that I am uncomfortable when thinking of this topic. Which is odd. I shouldn't be. I was stronger willed than that. Was I perhaps deteriorating? Just being foolish? Influenced by instincts? The latter was possible; Ninetales had not renewed my curse recently enough, and I was feeling its effects at the back of my mind. Think this way, no think that way.

"Getting a headache again?" Daemyn asked me.

"A very light one," I replied, "And it only has **something** to do with the nonsense we just discussed, and that's not all of it."

"Instincts? We probably shouldn't be talking about reproduction then. You can't go about fighting yourself again. Furthermore, that's not even proper friend talk there. That's like the talk a parent has with their kid."

"Completely unsuited for the situation. And inappropriate." I agreed.

"Well, come on then." Daemyn continued distracting me from my own mental conflict due to instinct as we continued to trounce enemies with relative ease in a casual manner and go far deeper into the dungeon.

He was a good friend, to do that for me.

The end of the dungeon was ahead of us. Our paws lightly patted the ground as we walked, making minimal noise. My eyes and ears and senses were on high alert in this place. It looked like a good place to be suddenly attacked.

And that is what I saw coming. Above us, three pokemon. I pretended to pay them no attention as we approached.

"Daemyn." I hissed extremely quietly. He could hear me because he was a mightyena. "Enemies above. Ambush. Jump away on my mark and attack without restraint."

His nod was nearly imperceptible.

Three…

Two…

One…

"Back!"

We leaped back as the set of three smashed into the ground with devastating, pre-prepared attacks that crushed the earth underneath them like it was nothing. A kabutops and two omastars. They looked surprised that their attack had failed so badly.

I did not give them a chance to say 'what', 'hey' or 'sorry'. The kabutops was struck down as my psycho cut **finally** activated my super luck and homed in on his weak point, defeating him straight away. Daemyn's shadow shotgun blasted one omastar across to the end of the room though it seemed to still be functioning.

I recognized before I used a psycho cut on the other omastar that the three pokemon seemed to be mentally **there** , as in, not dungeon pokemon. Why would they be here? It did not matter. Daemyn's next shadow ball acted like a bowling ball and the foolish water and rock type that he had blasted earlier just cowered and waited to get blown up, which is exactly what happened. Two downed, one to go.

Or not, because it ran away.

"That coulda hurt," Daemyn commented.

"...Yes. Yes, it could have done." I agreed "Let's go; We are near the end."

We walked on, our pawsteps resonating through the cavern. The echo of water reached Daemyn's ears first, as I deducted from the way his ears were flicking.

We emerged into a room that looked like a normal room, with the exception that a large section of the floor and wall that made up a fourth of the room looked to have been blasted apart, letting water in and opening it up to the sea. We were out of the dungeon and into a room that the dungeon preceded.

I instantly took note of the dark shape in the corner, which had a definitive shape, and pretended to ignore it. A glowing symbol took up what was left of the far wall, which was likely the completed symbol that Jake had brought about.

"And this was what led them to the hidden land then." I muttered, approaching it. The fragment that Swampert had owned was not in place. It would be in that odd floating stone device in the hidden land, according to Jake.

"Yep."

I frowned. "Is that a sunset coming from the hole in the wall?"

"Yep."

"We ought to head back then," I said, turning to look at the pokemon that seemed to be resting against the wall. Daemyn did not look surprised when I turned, likely having smelled the pokemon. He was midnight black for the most part. Red spikes adorned what looked like a cloak. Blue eyes were very much open and watching me warily as I approached.

"I guess you want to do this," Daemyn whispered to me, far too quietly for the other to hear.

"Yes." I stepped closer.

" **Go away…** "

I tilted my head slightly. "Why?" I asked quietly "Why must I leave?"

" **You will shout at me. Like all the others. They shout, or they scream and run.** "

"And you do not understand why?"

" **I… I do not know why.** "

"Neither do I."

The being looked up at me, evidently confused. Electric blue eyes met mine, and I did not waver. I refused to waver. " **...Who are you**?" he asked. His voice was dark and frightening, but Shedinja's voice sounded similar. I was not frightened.

"My name is Caleb." I introduced myself. "And I was once human. I was once very different to what I am now."

" **...Really?** "

"Yes." I sat down "Please, tell me who you are."

" **I… I can't. People run when they hear my name. I remember it, but…** "

"You do not have to give me your name. I simply wish to hear… Everything else." I explained patiently, calmly.

" **...Okay…** " he said hesitantly. My understanding for this pokemon grew. " **...I woke up around this old place, made of rock, with an entrance near it. It was dark, frightening looking, in there, so… I tried to leave pretty quickly.** "

 _Frightened easily. Unknown location from someone who should know. Memory loss. He remembers his name._

" **But there was a group of two pokemon there. They were startled by my appearance, frightened. They nearly ran from me. I didn't know what was wrong. I… I asked for help."**

 _Which they would not have believed…_

" **They looked angry. They shouted at me when I said my name. But… When I fell back, they looked confused.** "

 _They would._

" **They started talking to each other. I asked… Well, I asked them what they were doing. They didn't want to answer at first… Wouldn't stop glaring at me. But they said that they were searching for a teammate of theirs that had gone missing. I didn't know what they were talking about, but they weren't as angry when they walked away.** "

 _Most teams heard Jake's message regarding how he was attacked while time traveling. And the theory that he would have lost his memory. It would be hard to forgive him, but this team of two apparently decided to leave him alone. That was likely an intelligent choice._

" **I wanted to follow them, but they moved really fast like they were in a hurry… After that, I started walking around, trying to find something, anything…** "

 _But every place where pokemon inhabit…_

" **Everywhere** _ **I went, people ran away from me or tried to attack me, so I kept running.**_ "

 _And he would not have found any others that would help him._

" **There were so many different people. Nobody looked like I did. Nobody would tell me what was wrong.** "

 _I can, but now is not the time._

" **So I kept to the shadows, even if the shadows seemed unwelcoming. I found food, and I kept a bunch of it with me and entered this place after a long time walking. Everything avoided me, and then… I just stayed here. Using the food I had brought. I've been here for a few weeks now.** "

"How long have you been awake?"

" **Maybe a month… You two are the first people not to be afraid of me.** "

 _Because I understand your predicament, as would Jake and Amber. Daemyn hasn't put the pieces together. That's why I'm not using your name._

"Staying in the dark constantly cannot be healthy for most. I do not know about you, but I feel that you should get some sun." I offered "Neither of us will harm you."

My promise was delivered with the utmost certainty. He blinked, and slowly stood up. Daemyn looked very confused, but he did not ask. He understood that if I was not explaining myself, there was a good reason for it.

"It is my understanding that you have felt more fear than the people who fear you." I commented as I set my badge to bring the pokemon with Daemyn and I out of the dungeon but not to the guild.

"Wouldn't the guild be better?" Daemyn spoke up, recognizing what I was doing.

"No," I replied shortly. I looked at the dark pokemon. "Please do not be afraid. We will be taking a shortcut to the entrance of the cavern, and it will involve a lot of light, potentially uncomfortably bright." I warned him.

" **O-okay…** "

I transported us out of the dungeon.

He staggered a bit when we found ourselves in the sunlight again. Brightly lit, and there were no pokemon around to see us emerge. "It's probably good that you haven't seen any image or heard any descriptions up to this point. At least not one you recognize on sight." I told Daemyn.

" **It's very bright…** " the pokemon muttered, his white wispy hair-like material atop his head billowing in the wind.

"The sun is setting, which hard not to look directly at. It will become darker momentarily." I explained. "Now…"

I turned to the blue-eyed pokemon, who was standing on two rather spindly looking legs at the moment. He was evidently confused. And a little frightened. "Listen," I told him "Your memory is gone. I know that. Just like I know your name. You have a chance for a fresh start, or you would, if others only know your name. It will be… A delicate process to bring you back into society."

" **What will you do? I don't understand.** "

"..." I started thinking. "I need to consider this. We have little time, so we must find a way for you to begin understanding society without being visible to the average person. To observe."

" **Um…** "

"If I understand you correctly, you can enter other people's dreams?" I inquired. I saw Daemyn's eyes widen a fraction of an inch.

"..."

"My dream world is very extensive and complex, and I did leave a way for those within it to view the outside world that I am told works quite well," I explained, "And I will work towards explaining your predicament."

"Caleb…" Daemyn said, trailing off.

" **I… Can't.** " the pokemon said hesitantly, gripping one arm with the other. " **Just being around others… They look like they're in pain when they sleep when I'm nearby. I tried to find out why once, learning that I could go into dreams, but it just made it worse**."

"I am strong enough," I stated.

 _Dear Caleb, Sarah, Amaterasu, Sheila, and Riley: I am about to attempt something potentially risky. Please prepare yourself._

Message sent, I looked the dark type right in his blue eyes. "I believe you have a technique that would send me to sleep," I said "So do it. Enter my dream, and I will circumnavigate your nightmare ability. Or better yet, teach you to control it."

"Caleb!" Daemyn barked "You realize how risky that is?"

"Not helping, Daemyn." I reprimanded him, turning to the slightly more fearful looking pokemon. "I am quite serious about this. Nightmares are ultimately a product of the mind. I would wager that your ability affects the mind. I can defeat effects on my mind as I have shown. I have crushed and defeated numerous magical effects on my mind, and can battle my own instincts. Please try."

Daemyn stepped back. He understood what I was doing, but he didn't like it. "One of these days, Caleb, you're going to follow my rules and take no risks."

I looked him in the eye. "This is of very little risk," I informed him.

" **I…** ," he said slowly, " **I don't want to take that risk.** "

"Very well." I stepped back immediately "Then you do not have to take such a risk. I will not force anything upon you. And nobody in their right mind would force others into anything unless absolutely necessary."

 _Dear Caleb, Sarah, Amaterasu, Riley, and Sheila: Success._

I nodded respectfully to him. He had listened to my every word. Mind games are useful. As long as I was correct about them, then I was alright. I reminded myself that I needed to stay within moral grounds. In this case, I feigned going near it and backed up with an important message, meaning that he would have paid all sorts of attention.

" **Let others make their choice…** " he murmured. Daemyn's eyes showed his understanding. He's seen me play with circumstances to get the greatest results. Everything was going to be fine. " **I'll remember that.** "

"What will you do from here?" I asked.

" **...I don't know…** " he replied, gripping his arm. " **Everybody is mad at me, and I don't know why…** " his eyes lit up a little " **Could you tell me?** "

I flinched a little. So minor that nobody could see it, but I did. "I can…" I said slowly, quietly "But I think you had better prepare yourself." he looked at me blankly. "And I want you to understand what I am going to say here: It has **nothing** to do with who you are right now. What you did back then is now irrelevant, because you are not that person any longer. Memory loss, everything. You have a chance to begin anew, and this is just to help you understand."

" **...You're worrying me…** "

"I expect so." I sighed "And I am very sorry. Are you ready to hear this? You might want to sit down."

He obediently found a rock and sat on it, looking uncomfortable. It was understandable; he was not certain that he wanted to know any longer. His blue eyes were actually shaking a little bit. I had worried him very much.

"Previously, before you… Began anew, you tried to cause time to stop and paralyze the planet. Essentially, you attempted to stop time forever and let the world sink into darkness for eternity. When that did not work, you started unleashing a nightmare across the world, sending pokemon into a deep sleep that they could not wake from until you were defeated. By my source, who is a very good source, you were defeated in a deep and difficult dungeon called the 'dark crater'. You tried to travel through time to escape, and in the process, you were attacked. One of my best friends was attacked while traveling through time, and he too lost his memory entirely with two exceptions: his name and his ability to speak properly, to be literate and speaking a known language." I explained quietly.

The previous villain looked increasingly horrified as I spoke, shivering. He might have backed up if he hadn't been sitting down. His body flowed in the wind like a cloak over his body. He looked frightened, horrified.

"Are you all right?" I asked. It was rhetorical; he could not possibly be all right. I was inviting him to continue speaking.

" **I… I don't… No… I did that? Why would I do that?** "

"I do not have the answer to that question," I admitted "But I do know that it is now irrelevant. You are not that person any longer, and you never have to be again."

My reassurances did not halt his shivering, but he looked a little less panicked. " **I…** " he trailed off. I stepped forward slowly, so slowly that he did not stiffen.

"You have another chance." I told him "Maybe others won't be willing to provide it, but I will. And Daemyn and everyone else I know would, even if they experience fear at first. Can you sink into your own shadow?"

" **...Yes…** "

"Then when you want to find me, I will likely be inside Wigglytuff's guild during the night. You can sneak in as a shadow and find me in our room. Sarah is protected from nightmares by her budding future sight abilities that she is beginning to refine to the events of the next day. I am protected by my utter control over my mind, and Shedinja never sleeps. Thus, it should be all right if you find us. Do not hesitate to wake me." I told him. He listened to my instructions intently. He seemed bewildered.

"I know this is a frightening prospect. To approach an area crowded with people who only know the previous you." I murmured "And it is not a requirement. But you can if you wish."

He looked very… Uncertain. " **I don't know… I don't know what I should do…** "

"Then I suggest you take some time and think." I offered, giving him a smile before turning around. "Your future is in your hands. Not mine, not anyone else's. If I might make a suggestion… Help people when you can. Do so anonymously, at first, stay hidden, and people might say that 'a shadow saved them and fled before I could say a word. Then, when you feel the time is right, allow them to 'catch you in the act' of saving someone, and that will bring doubt about who you are as a person. I could help you make those decisions, but once again, that is your choice."

" **O-okay…** "

"We do have to go," I stated, looking at the setting sun. "We must get some sleep. I do not know if you sleep, but now would be a good time to rest."

"Bloody hypocrite, you are." Daemyn muttered, and I smiled.

"Yes, yes I am." I turned back. "Is there anything you would have us know before we bid you farewell?"

" **I don't think so…** " he murmured.

"Very well." I prepared my badge. "Let's both go to the guild, Daemyn." I offered, and he nodded. I prepared the energy to magically teleport, and…

" **Wait.** " I heard, and I turned back once more. " **Th-... Thank you for being kind to me.** "

I smiled. "You are quite welcome," I responded.

And then we were gone. Suddenly in front of the guild. Daemyn quickly pulled me around to the back of the tent, his expression very different. "Caleb, what are you doing?"

"Exactly what I intended to."

"That's **Darkrai** ," he hissed "You know, the destroyer of worlds guy. Domination guy. Nearly killed off the damn **planet** guy. and… I don't even know."

"No memories, afraid, needing assistance." I pointed out flatly "And you know all about my mind games. I play them for the good of others. You know that. My elaborate way of teaching him to let others do what they want, let them make their choices, was very important. I could have told him straight out, and it would have come out as if I was the one in control. It would have put me in a position of power. Instead, I gave the same message and yet we were equals in that regard. My other suggestions afterward sounded like they came from a friend rather than a superior, which is incredibly important when dealing with people afflicted with amnesia."

Daemyn stopped. He blinked a few times. "I had wondered why you were playing that particular game…" he ventured "But why put me in the background in the process? Why avoid saying his name?"

I felt bad. "Putting you in the background was not the purpose of the exercise, but you would have reacted involuntarily had I said his name, and he would have noticed. He would have been hesitant to say any more, and might even have fled if that happened. Darkrai is in a delicate, fearful situation at the moment, and protecting him is a top priority." I explained.

Thankfully he seemed to get that. "...Okay, but I hope you know what you are doing. What if his memories come back?"

"Jake's haven't." I pointed out.

"If he finds a way to get his memories back?"

"Then we'll know how to get Jake's back," I said, ducking the question for a moment before attacking it. "And if that happens a long time after this, he should experience some major doubts before doing what he was doing before. He sounded like he had little motive in the first place, the way Jake explained it."

Daemyn had started to object when I closed my mouth after mentioning Jake's memory. Now he snapped his jaws shut and started to think about it.

"Finally, I **can** fight off nightmares. My dreams are very unique. I might wish to find out why at some point, but for now… I control my dreams, not some magical ability. Team Edge is particularly suited to be around Darkrai until I can teach Darkrai how to turn his ability on and off like Ninetales can do. Or rather, Ninetales will have to do it because I do not know how at the moment. I am certain I can convince her to be reasonable about the situation."

"...Alright. As long as you know what you are doing, I really shouldn't argue." Daemyn sighed. "You're right. Ninetales will be reasonable. She's a lot like you in that-..."

"Way?" I offered with a slight amount of humor.

"I… Just realized the implications of what I just said," Daemyn muttered, "Let's all be glad you're not a girl."

 _Oh. Now I get it. I shudder at the thought._

"Which will probably last until Braixen gets a funny idea with her magic," Daemyn added, grinning at me.

"Come off it."

He patted me on the shoulder with his paw with a good degree of power. "See you tomorrow," he said, walking away from me while I was busy calculating the possibility that Braixen would actually do that to me and whether she could. I really didn't like magic much.

"What was that about?"

I turned around, slightly startled. After all that, my absol senses were not the thing I was focusing on. Ninetales stood before me.

"Hello, Ninetales. How are you?" I asked politely, sitting down. I wondered if she had overheard the conversation between Daemyn and I. How careless of me. He should have been able to tell her himself when he was ready.

"I am doing very well," She responded, "What were you and your friend talking about?"

 _Phew._

"Something very important." I said "And difficult to explain without causing a degree of panic, but there is no real danger. Ninetales, could you please renew your curse on me before I go mental walking back into the guild?"

"...Yes," she brought her tails around and quickly cursed me again. "I understand that you have not been sleeping."

"I'll sleep more when I do not have a tournament to run," I said, ready to go into the guild. "Ninetales, what do you know of the events involving the planet's paralysis and the spreading nightmare?"

"Only that it would have devastated the world if not stopped, and that a pokemon named Darkrai was responsible. I have not made a point of asking around. People might still fear the name." she explained.

I winced. "I was afraid of that. Do you know what became of Darkrai?"

"I believe he was defeated," she answered, and then narrowed her eyes. "He was defeated, yes?"

"...In a sense. He attempted to travel through time to escape and was attacked while doing so." I responded. "My friend Jake, my fellow human, experienced the same kind of attack in the time stream. Precisely the same."

I was thankful that her eyes showed understanding. "Your friend lost most of his memories," she said quietly.

"Everything but his name and his ability to speak." I nodded.

"Darkrai?"

"Scared. Not certain what is happening. He's afraid to go near others because he is accidentally causing them nightmares. And because people shout and cry and run when he appears, or yells at him in anger. He does not understand and took to hiding. We found him today. He needs help."

Ninetales seemed to not understand. "You're suggesting we help the one who tried to destroy the world?" she asked with a hint of incredulous-ness.

"In my opinion, an opinion I will not allow being refuted, an amnesiac is an entirely different person than who used to be in that body," I stated firmly "Jake and Amber were both likely entirely different people before they found themselves here."

Then I pierced the queen with my gaze. "The reason they are heroes is because they were treated kindly and given the opportunity to be heroes. If we alienate him again, then he actually might gather some resentment again. Darkrai **must** be allowed into society, for his sake… And everyone else's. I have given him a guideline to help him along with that, but he needs further help. Specifically, knowledge of how to turn his ability off like you can."

More understanding dawned in her eyes at my last point, though she had clearly understood my logic throughout. At this point, she obviously agreed with me wholeheartedly. "I understand," she said. "Everyone would be better off if he managed to come back into society peacefully.

"Ninetales," I said, "I need you to give me as much information as you can manage about how you control whether your ability is on or off."

* * *

Your super luck can be suppressed? Why would you even do that?" Erza asked.

"Not for myself, but some abilities can be troublesome: drought, nightmare, among others."

Jake raised a brow. "How-..."

I held up a paw to stop him. "Not in public," I said. Daemyn nodded, catching everyone's attention. They looked between the two of us, blinking.

We walked around the nearest building. Having decided not to take jobs today, we were just walking around. The others had demanded to know the events of yesterday because Daemyn and I had retreated from everyone else. And we were informing them.

"Alright," Jake said, recognizing that we were out of sight. "What's this about Nightmare?"

"Darkrai's signature ability?" Swampert clarified.

Slightly narrowed eyes all around. I was not deterred from this. "Jake, how frightened were you when you first woke up in this world?" I asked him, catching him off guard. Absol instantly understood whereas the others had varying degrees of confusion written on their faces.

"Uh… Well, scared at first. Everything was an utter blank for a while, and then I look up and see Swampert… Mudkip at the time, and I pretty much instantly freaked out. I scrambled away from him and in the process, saw the yellow fur on my paw, figuring out that I was a pikachu, and then I freaked out some more." Jake said.

"And then Swampert was friendly to you. Very friendly." I deducted "Which helped ease your fears."

"Yeah."

"What would have happened if everyone you met screamed in fear or anger when they saw you?" I pressed.

He flinched back. "That would… I probably would just hide, and wonder why I'm even alive," he whispered "If everyone hated me and I didn't know why… But this world is good, filled with good people. They give a lot of chances, and… They wouldn't do that, not all of them."

He gave me a look. "...Somebody with the nightmare ability that has no memory… And everyone is afraid of them?" he said before his eyes widened before he whispered: "Darkrai."

"Hang on, what?" Amber asked, backing up a few steps.

"Yes," I said "I have taken steps that would hopefully lead to his acceptance, but he must keep a low profile. I tell you this because I know that none of you will panic." I said "This information must stay between us and Ninetales for the moment. It **must**. nobody else must find out about Darkrai's return until the fear of him has gone down. At least, once the trust of someone they don't know increases."

"...What's he doing?" Erza asked.

"I think Caleb convinced him to start by anonymously helping people so that people trust the hidden being that stays in the shadows. After a period of time, when people all know that this anonymous shadow is trustworthy, he will quote-unquote 'accidentally' reveal himself in one of the moments when he saves somebody from something. The thought will most likely be discounted at first, and so at intervals, he will likely do the same until people really think that Darkrai is rescuing them." Daemyn analyzed the situation.

"That's… Heavy." Jess said, "I mean, Jake told me all about that, but if he's going to be good, why worry?"

"What if he gets his memory back?" Erza asked crossing her arms.

"That was what I said, but…" Daemyn muttered.

"Jake has not gotten his memory back, and the circumstances, not to mention his symptoms, are precisely the same," I explained. "And furthermore, if he does manage to get his memory back… We will know how to get Jake's memory back as well. Jake, you and Swampert defeated Darkrai on your own, yes?"

Jake's eyes widened when I mentioned getting his memory back. He completely forgot to answer my question.

Swampert, however, was less hesitant. "Barely…" he muttered "That Cresselia chick got herself taken out three times on the way down that dungeon, and then during the battle with Darkrai, and we wound up handling it. We beat Darkrai and the dungeon pokemon he had with him and was somehow controlling. But yeah, we got him."

"And there are now a lot more of us." I reasoned "All with considerable power and or speed, and Amber, who took Rayquaza down with one strike. I suspect that Darkrai will not recover his memory naturally, and if he does, then it would likely be after Jake does, considering that the entire system is time based and should therefore similarly afflict both of them. This means that if their memories would gradually return, Jake's would come first, and we would be prepared and I could even give Darkrai a choice before his memories begin to return. Most important to understand: I am fully confident that his memories will not return."

The tension broke at my last point, as everyone smirked and nodded. "Because if Caleb has zero doubt, there's no reason to doubt," Daemyn said cheerfully. "Alright, that's settled. Which villain are we redeeming next? The Bittercold?"

Most of us laughed.

* * *

 **That last bit was a joke. Just in case there were misconceptions.**

 **But yeah, Darkrai. I had planned for that to be a chapter later, but it would have taken up chapter space I didn't need to take up, and in this story, Brine Cave's a pretty secluded place because all that's there at the end is a symbol on the wall with a piece missing. So it was a good hiding spot. For Darkrai.**

 **But hey, if we're talking about time travel under Jake's circumstances, this is the kind of opportunity I couldn't possibly pass up. So that leads to more questions to think about. What will become of Darkrai?**

 **And Daemyn got the spotlight in this chapter. This is because I realized that I had been kind of neglecting his character a lot And after his importance in the first story, that would not do at all. I couldn't do that to the guy.**

 **I hope everyone has enjoyed this chapter. Please, leave your opinions and comments in your review. Good day, everyone, and I will see you all next time.**


	18. Chapter Eighteen

**Hey, everybody. Hyperjade here. And Jango. And Amber.**

 **Jango: Aww, Hyperjade's all tired.**

 **Amber: You have bags under your eyes, Jango.**

 **Jango: Lies! Reviews time go!**

 **Amber: *sighs* alright. I'll handle it.  
**

 **Me: Thank you...**

 **Amber: First up is WesternFail.**

 **Jango: Hang on, hold on!**

 **Amber: *sighs* what is it now?**

 **Jango: I nicked your pizza before you ate it! Did you have a second pizza hidden anywhere!? Why didn't I notice it!?**

 **Amber: ...**

 **Jango: ...**

 **Amber: Anyways, We're all glad you're all right, West. Yeah... Erza and Daemyn didn't do a lot of things lately... I know they start doing more interesting things later, of course. I'm pretty sure, anyways. Considering the stories they told me...**

 **Jango: Ah, hello, Rocketiermaster. I'll let Amber tell you that bit.**

 **Amber: I knocked Caleb out with a moonblast.**

 **Jango: Boom. Answered. As for the rest of that, since when does a character have to be a main character to justify getting him in game? PS: Good luck getting New Age Gauge in there, 'cause I'm pretty sure getting a winged luxray would be difficult in those games.**

 **Amber: Yes, Nerdy Retard, you are the 100th reviewer.**

 **Jango: *mimes throwing confetti into the air***

 **Amber: Ignore him. Yeah... Caleb doesn't like the thought right now. He generally avoids it, even with his instincts trying to get him to do otherwise...**

 **Jango: Ah, instincts. super useful stuff. The goofball's just afraid of it.**

 **Amber: That's not nice, Jango. Continuing on... Uh, Zlaxe? What do you mean by that? I'm confused. Super confused. And someone's plotting revenge in your background? I don't understand...**

 **Jango: Heheheh... *evil grin* let them just TRY to get revenge on me. What Lies Beyond and co, you have no idea what I'm capable of. I'm everywhere... I could be sneaking up on you RIGHT NOW. Imagine a picture frame with a quote in it, a quote you continue to stare at no matter which way you turn, that says 'if you are reading this, you are blissfully unaware of what is creeping up behind you'. *plays with some odd equipment.***

 **Amber: Jango... What's that?**

 **Jango: Some booby traps I disabled. These things will do nicely... Heh...**

 **Amber: *sweatdrops***

 **Jango: Did you catch somebody? Hah. That must be one of the things I replaced your booby traps with. You really are an amateur trapper, you know. Not that they're ineffective, but they're boring. Some of the stuff you're going to fall into during the next few weeks will be a lesson on how to properly build traps to be entertaining, painful, unnecessarily extravagant, and operating perfectly!**

 **Amber: Let's move on... Er... I don't remember seeing Grovyle ever... Sorry, Raven.**

 **Jango: We were totally joking about the bittercold. Trust me, we know we can't redeem that thing.**

 **Amber: Uh... Inconsistency? Hyper?**

 **Me: I'll go back and fix that when I can. I've been fixing some blatant errors in earlier chapters of book one, and I've been doing it very slowly, so... I'm focusing on the stuff I'm doing right now.**

 **Amber: Okay. Phillip? I mean, the bittercold wasn't a nice thing, as far as I'm aware...**

 **Jango: Lucarioking! no questions! I have nothing to tease you for not knowing about!?**

 **Amber: It was going to happen someday, Jango.**

 **Jango: But still!**

 **Amber: Gallade... He wasn't very nice during the first part of the tournament.**

 **Jango: *looks away.* Meh.**

 **Me: Neither of you remembered to thank Zero Lunar for that review...**

 **Amber: And... Eagle blaster reviewed too, but he-slash-she reviewed on chapter nine... Sarah's not that bad, really. You've gotta give her a chance, hard as it is, okay?**

 **Me: I think that's about it. Please read and review, and have a pleasant day!**

* * *

 **Chapter Eighteen: Sparks**

⌁ **Jake's POV ⌁**

"Mornin' sleepyhead!" Jess pulled me out of bed. Literally. I was being dragged by the arm. "Day two of rest and relaxation!"

"You realize that rest and relaxation-" My mutter was cut off by a yawn "Generally involves **sleeping**?"

"Eh." Jess shrugged almost carelessly. Shulk was eating his breakfast already. I sighed and managed to get to my feet, rubbing my eyes with my free paw that wasn't being pulled along. Padding alongside the pikachu, I looked over to Swampert.

"Why does he get to sleep?" I complained irritably.

"Couldn't wake him up." both Shulk and Jess responded at once.

I sighed some more and slumped over in front of my breakfast dish. I reflected on how I had slowly gotten lazier after graduating from the guild. We were taking higher pay-higher difficulty jobs often that increased our pay, and generally took more time off. Having collected a lot of money over time during our time in the guild, even with that guild nicking most of the money we made (I had been irritated with this until Caleb explained just how much money the guild would need to run and helped me understand).

"I'm thinking we just relax today." Swampert ventured "Y'know, like how Caleb and Daemyn did yesterday."

"They separated from their teams to talk to one another, and just hang out," I muttered, "I would feel weird about going anywhere without Swampert."

"That's cuz you haven't since the entire time since you guys met, right?" Jess asked me. I nodded slowly and continued eating. That is, until I felt a horrible burning in my mouth that obliterated my sleep-induced stupor and started literally spitting fire from whatever I had just stuck in my mouth, which would have been a tamato berry.

I fell and coughed several times, trying to get the stuff out of my mouth. I looked up from all fours to see Jess smiling at me. "Why would you do that?" I asked her, putting pain and confusion into my words.

"You awake yet?" Jess asked, patting me on the back roughly. She was certainly the 'strong and in charge' type. I nodded before collapsing, my face falling into my food. Tamato berries are rough on me. Had I trained my fire aura in **any** way, they probably would be tolerable, but no. I was pretty much only proficient in my electricity, and have some training with ground and fighting and steel types. That made me pretty vulnerable when something like a tamato berry came along. As it was, I nearly fell unconscious right there instead of staying awake.

Jess walked over to me (I could hear her) and picked me up, balanced me on my feet, and offered me an odd looking berry. "It's got water aura properties," she explained as she handed it to me. "Should help with the burn."

I stuffed the thing in my mouth quickly, feeling the spicy aftereffects of the tamato berry vanish in the wind. I breathed out slowly. "You're mean, Jess," I complained.

"Nobody likes their alarm clock." Jess shrugged. I wonder how she knew those words. I wondered how **I** knew those words. Probably some human term. Was this part of the odd connection that Caleb described, in which pokemon seemed to have a lot of words in their vocabulary that had meaning in the human world, but no real equivalent in this world?

I sighed once more and dropped the topic. "Nah." I refuted her statement. "I like you."

her eyes widened.

"As a friend!" I added quickly, panicked. I hoped she hadn't taken that the wrong way. I hadn't, no way. Jess calmed and nodded with a smile. Her ears twitched and so did her tail. Her playful smirk refused to die, and she had her arms crossed in front of her. Her bright red cheeks sparked with a tiny amount f electricity constantly, like mine did.

"Uh huh," she rubbed my head with her paw before she turned and started talking with Shulk. The kid enjoyed the attention that my teammate was giving him, the joking around and playing. He fit right in in this group, and so did Jess.

I smiled and shook my head. I walked over to my best friend and shook at Swampert's fins in an attempt to wake the behemoth of a pokemon. "C'mon, Swampert. Up you get." I coaxed the sleeping water and ground type.

"That's not going to be of any use," Jess called over to me.

I rolled my eyes. "Watch and learn from the master." I commanded, and went over and picked up Swampert's head. "Rise and shine, dude," I spoke in his ear, pinching his cheeks and shaking his head back and forth repeatedly "You don't want to be outdone by me, do you?"

He grumbled something inaudible as he started to wake up. Jess and Shulk watched in amazement as Swampert blinked his eyes open. They were narrowed at me, but upon seeing my cheeky grin, he sighed and slowly started getting up.

"We really ought to get back into the habit of being awake for work…" he grumbled, "When we actually start real work."

"Oh, yeah!" Shulk exclaimed. "Swampert, didn't you say that Chatot mentioned to you something about searching for team Raider?"

"Right," Swampert muttered, lowering his head. "Chatot asked us if we would try and find the team at our leisure, of course. There are other teams out there, but he mentioned individuals looking out and about for them on any travels we go on."

I blinked. "Do you want to do that?"

"I was thinking the most difficult dungeons would likely have the team in them if the team was defeated and was somehow prevented from sending out a rescue job. I was thinking about the dark crater, but you only got past that dungeon because Cresselia would levitate you in the air before the earthquake attacks could hit you."

"Pretty much all she actually helped with…" I muttered "Are you saying you should go alone? I know you can handle it."

"I do." Swampert nodded. Then, he smirked. "I'm sure that you can find other ways to spend the time."

That's when Shulk jumped to his feet. "If the rest of us are doing absolutely nothing, can I go talk to Kemuri again?" he asked quickly.

The rest of us smiled at him in response, and he bolted out. "That kid really needed a friend his age," Swampert noted, "I think a lot of his friends must have been older or younger than he is."

"Probably," I replied, slightly embarrassed for not having reached that conclusion. After all, I was team leader. I was supposed to know these things. "So that's those two…"

"Jake?" Jess asked me, bringing my attention to her.

"What?" I asked, adding humor to my voice but not totally hiding the dejection "You've got somebody to talk to too?"

"Well, yeah," She admitted, and I lowered my head a bit. So I was the only one without a plan. I guess I could just go hang out or spar with Erza, Daemyn, and-slash-or Caleb. I just have trouble coming up with any topics around them. I'm… Distant from them. Even with Caleb being a fellow human being, he's so different from me. So is Amber really. I also supposed that I could just sit on the beach alone or something.

"You, silly!" she suddenly exclaimed, grabbing my utterly astonished self around the neck with one arm and ruthlessly rubbing her other paw into the top of my head, which **hurt**.

"Owowwow!" I complained, squirming, but the girl had an iron grip. "You- **ow** -tricked me! **Ow**!'

"Oh, you'll get used to it," she told me, letting me free as I gasped for air and clutched my head. "You'd better, at least, cuz I'm not going to stop teasing you and messing with you."

I didn't know what to think. My mind was filled with really weird thoughts that didn't match the situation. In fact, my head was in a total conflict and contradiction. I didn't bother to get up, just kind of laying there until she said: "C'mon, let's go for a walk or something."

"I'm getting tired again…" I muttered, closing my eyes. I immediately felt some electricity run through my system that wasn't mine, making my fur bristle.

"Nope." Jess pulled me to my hind paws and shook me to wake me up a bit more. "You need to get off your lazy tail and go outside today."

"Yes, ma'am…" I muttered, sarcastically emphasizing the 'ma'am' bit, following my teammate out through the door, listening to Swampert chuckling at me. We walked into the bright sunlight, me covering my eyes for a solid thirty seconds, as I had just woken up.

Jess started to lead me on a walk. I slowly relaxed as we moved along, my annoyance at being woken up early dying out pretty quickly. Jess was nice… She was just really, really spirited. And fond of punching things. Including my shoulder, which she seemed to do instead of a pat on the back. It hurt, but it was strangely affectionate.

She just liked to play rough. I can't say that my complaints about it were entirely sincere either. Being knocked to the ground wasn't fun, but I felt something entirely different about the playful punches I was receiving. It was… An odd feeling. Like I knew it defied what I should be feeling and made me feel something entirely different and completely unidentified.

I wondered if Amber felt like this all of the time. I suppose it described how her personality changed beyond her control, but it wasn't my personality changing, just emotion. Yet… I could sympathize with the incredibly powerful eevee a little more.

Maybe if Jess was a little lighter about the playful punches, she'd be even more likable.

I walked with her for a while, entering town quickly. Surrounded by a lot of pokemon, though a lot of them had gone on missions today, it still managed to be crowded. Getting bumped aside by a tyrunt and a cranidos, who were chatting it up, I scrambled to my feet before I was promptly trampled.

Jess pulled my tail and yanked me away from the rampardos that quickly followed and nearly smashed me into the ground with her foot. Thankfully, I am used to having my tail pulled, and didn't yelp in pain. Swampert's saved me from falling off of things dozens of times by doing that.

Making it to Kangaskhan, who do we run into but teams Amber, talking with the umbreon Alger and the luxray Gauge. Amber was primarily focusing on Alger, talking at a quick pace. Alger frankly looked bewildered until I picked up Charizard's explanation with my sensitive ears. Apparently she got pretty talkative around Alger. So much so that she was confusing him.

I decided to save the guy because Gauge clearly wasn't going to. "Hey, Amber." I interrupted with a greeting. She looked over at me quickly, her umbreon form vanishing to be replaced with her eevee form, making me suddenly need to look down to see her.

"Hey, Jake…" she murmured, her quiet voice that she spoke to me with normally appearing instantaneously.

Alger looked conflicted about how to react to that, so I let him be. "Great morning, right?" I attempted to make conversation somewhat awkwardly.

She nodded. "Yeah…"

Well, that conversation went absolutely nowhere. I was left there, rubbing the back of my head. Amber obviously felt really embarrassed about that, considering how she was blushing a bit. Her face held an apologetic expression on it. "Sorry, Jake."

I shook my head. "It's all right, Amber. You don't have control over that. I understand." I consoled her. I smiled down at the fox, who gave me a grateful smile before turning back to Alger.

"As I was saying…" Amber started to talk to him again, seeming to immediately change into an umbreon when she saw him for no apparent reason. I turned to Gauge and gave a silent gesture of greeting.

"'Sup?" he asked me.

"Basically nothing," I admitted "Except being nearly run over repeatedly and being woken up by a megalomaniacal pikachu- **ow** -and an energetic riolu, before needing to wake up a guy who I only could wake up because I'm practiced at it. Jess, why'd you hit me?"

"Because you called me megalomaniacal." she frowned, arms crossed.

"You **act** like it- **Ow!** "

This time, Jess' fist was smoking when it hit me, making me a touch paralyzed. just a bit. She hit me in the shoulder, which was more along the lines of telling me off than what would typically be aggression.

"Sheesh…" I muttered. Gauge hadn't moved or spoken as that had happened Jess was the tough girl, not afraid to retaliate for anything. I could appreciate that. I got back to my feet and gave Gauge a look like 'see?'

His expression said 'yeah'. "I had best get back to what I was doing," he muttered, going to talk to Kangaskhan. I sweatdropped before shrugging and deciding to leave it alone.

"Oh well. Have a good day!" I said to everyone I knew that was present before walking off, Jess in tow. "That could have gone all sorts of better…" I muttered.

Jess laughed at me, which helped me perk up a bit. Laughter was good. I needed to hear more of that. I gave a small smile and nudged her. "Ditched by my best friend for the day, and the kid, too," I told her "What should we actually be doing?"

"Oh, let's get out of town first," She replied casually "Just out in a general direction."

"That really tells me absolutely nothing about what you want to do!" I called after her, as she had picked up the pace the moment she finished talking. I bolted after her, smiling to myself. Her cheeky responses amused me a lot.

It was an interesting game. Like one of those ones kids play where the chasers have to stay on certain lines while the other kids try to get past them, except this one was ten times more difficult in a massive crowd. I was getting quite the challenge in twisting and avoiding people as I tried to move as fast as possible.

I got smacked around a bit, but I managed to stumble out of that particularly messy crowd and ran towards Jess, who was smirking as if the whole thing had been a competition. Struck by inspiration, I raced forward faster. she seemed to brace for impact, before again outsmarting me and sidestepping perfectly as I blew past in a tackle, which would have been revenge for the whacks I received earlier.

 **Clang!**

I slammed face first into an immovable object, giving a slight whimper as I slid and then toppled off of whatever I had hit and landed face first into the dirt. Jess' laughter reached my super sensitive ears along with " **Shedinja**."

 _Ah, darn it._

"Sorry about that, Shedinja," I muttered, standing up. The ghostly shell was suspended in front of me, utterly emotionless on a physical level. I looked left and right, finding no genius armored absol and no complex and emotion-sensitive red absol nearby. "Where are Caleb and Sarah?"

" **Shedinja.** "

"Well, maybe they're still in the guild?" I asked, looking away and trying not to listen so that I would get that subconscious message thing.

" **Shedinja**."

"Yeah. Have you been staying outside during the night or something?"

" **Shedinja**."

"Well, I'm sure you'll find them," I told the shell, looking back and nodding with a smile on my face. The shell gave that nod motion, floating up and down before drifting in the direction of the guild. I turned back to Jess. "You didn't expect it to go as well as it did," I said, a smug edge to my tone.

"No, no I didn't," Jess admitted, "But in my defense, I don't know Shedinja well enough."

"He's always been a nice, calm, reasonable guy," I explained.

'Which is three points down for me." she shrugged "Seeing your face go flat against the guy was funny, though."

I frowned and crossed my arms.

"It was funny!"

I raised an eyebrow.

"It was totally funny." Jess insisted "Now come along." The girl grabbed my paw and began walking, forcing me to keep up.

"You've been getting a lot rougher with me lately…" I muttered, "I can take a little roughness, but you are laying it on thick."

She skidded to a stop and looked me in the eyes with surprise in her own. "Oh," she said simply and was silent for a while. "I guess… I just kind of got carried away or something."

I gave a soft smile and put my paw on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it," I told her "You've been a dungeon pokemon until recently. All you have ever done is attack things in the dungeon for however many years. You just have to get a little more used to society. Roughhousing? Fine. That's fine. But taking a crack at people for no reason constantly… That's another issue. And it is an issue."

Jess nodded mutely. She shivered in place. I smiled and rubbed her head. "I didn't say anything." I pointed out "You couldn't have known it was unconventional because nobody told you. You had no experience regarding it. You emerged from the dungeon and were thrust straight into a tournament all about fighting."

I got a smile after that. "How did you get that… What's the word… Wise?"

I raised a brow at her and waited for her mouth to open before we both said "Caleb" at the same time. "And if I was Caleb, I'd be asking you how you even knew words right after becoming sentient after being a dungeon pokemon." I continued "Makes little sense, but then, so does the entire freaking world."

Jess chuckled. "Alright," she said. But then she gave me a light push on the chest. "I'm not going to go easy on you, though," she promised.

I smiled. "I don't think I need you to." I decided, and then started walking on my own towards the major crossroads. Jess caught up with me quickly, smiling, and then we traveled together out of town for the day.

❊ **Amber's POV ❊**

I finally finished my conversation with Alger, suddenly realizing I had promptly droned on. He looked a little bewildered. I tried to force down the part of me that wanted to just keep talking, knowing it was one of my odd reactions to people. I shifted back into being an eevee. "Sorry about that." I apologized quickly.

"...It's all right." He told me eventually. "I do know and understand the things you have to deal with, so it's no problem. Mild inconveniences aside, you yourself didn't really **mean** to talk my ear off." the shiny umbreon smiled, before departing.

I turned to give a farewell to Gauge, but instead, I could imagine little yellow lines blinking on an off, outlining where he had been. "Oh…" I said.

"It is quite all right, Amber," Absol assured me before he led all of us on our way. We didn't have any actual goal or anything, so I figured it might be nice to just kind of do something like what Caleb and Daemyn did as friends yesterday.

Which led to us seeing a ninetales approach with no bags or anything on her. She looked very familiar… She wasn't Vulnona, nor was she queen Ninetales, who I believe Daemyn was going to talk with today for whatever reason.

I racked my brain trying to think of who she was. I had totally forgotten, which was unusual unless I found myself being really forgetful when I saw someone-... Oh. But… doesn't she…

Absol's eyes widened at the sight. "Ninetales!" he greeted her cheerfully, dropping the formal speech. She noticed him and came over, a smile on her face.

"Hello, Absol," she said in reply. Charizard's eyes lit up, and Magnezone drifted forward a bit. So far, the only ninetales I had been forgetful around was… The one from the frozen mountain. My eyes widened.

"Hello, Amber." Ninetales greeted me, and I smiled in return. This was going to get confusing fast if we didn't give one of the Ninetales a nickname. I shifted on my paws awkwardly, but the pokemon chuckled and rubbed my head with her paw. "It is quite all right. I cannot possibly judge you for forgetting who I was considering your lack of control over your reaction to me compared to others."

I was immensely grateful of course, although I should not have been surprised. However, this Ninetales would always surprise me, no matter what, because being around her made me extremely forgetful. "So… Uh… Why did you leave your mountain to come here?" I asked her.

"Why, to make certain you were alright." Ninetales explained casually "And, of course, to see my old friend again." she smiled at Absol. I knew that those two had known each other for a time, but I didn't see Ninetales often, so I didn't know how well they knew each other. Only that Absol went to visit her occasionally.

But considering I was utterly clueless about relationships, I decided to take the smile they shared as a friendly smile. It made sense, considering they haven't known each other for too long.

I just smiled and nodded as Ninetales and Absol talked to each other before Charizard took pity on me and started talking to me about entirely unrelated things. Jabbering on for about ten minutes while Absol, surprisingly out of character, asked Ninetales for all sorts of updates. Their conversation was lengthy and in depth.

Ninetales had apparently spent a lot of time guiding people through the extremely cold mountain where she seemed to be whenever we saw her. Now she was here, just to visit. I wondered why she was here in the first place, really. She hadn't told us, not really.

"Ninetales." Absol suddenly said with a slightly more pointed tone, "Why did you actually come all the way across the ocean by whichever means? I have never seen you outside of your mountain home."

The pokemon smiled down at him. "I was contacted by Xatu," she explained. "After getting used to not being in the cold, which was an odd feeling somewhere between uncomfortable and energizing, I traveled to meet the xatu that stares at the sunset all of the time."

Absol nodded. "The one with the future sight technique."

"Yes," Ninetales stated

 _I never understood the future sight technique. Sarah's works way differently from Xatu's, and yet they're both the same trick… It's just about as varied as how shadow ball can be used._

"Xatu informed me that it would be best if I were to join you here. He seemed to think that while it had little to do with world saving, he assured me that it was 'for the best of all parties involved', meaning I have something to do with your future and that can be better."

"I-it is unlike Xatu to be vague-e" Magnezone warbled as Charizard opened his mouth to say a similar thing.

 _How convenient_.

"Indeed. However, I believe he had a purpose for doing so." Ninetales began to explain "The future branched wildly from that point of decision. Because the future was imminent and absolutely going to happen when he explained the meteor to you, because the meteor was going to hit the planet unless something specific was done, he could be far more specific in his instructions and explanations to you. In this case, however, his tone was far more kind, and it felt more like a personal favor. The future branched wildly in the way that he was viewing it, and in my opinion, he did nothing more than decide that you four would be pleasantly surprised to see me here."

I blinked.

Absol nodded. Ignoring my failure to understand, he spoke up. "So you decided to visit us out of the blue. I must admit, I had in no way expected that."

"Fantastic," she said cheerily. "After five days on a lapras, you cannot possibly imagine how good it was to be back on land once more. I even got over the uncomfortable yet energizing feeling of not being surrounded by cold air all of the time."

"Being a fire type surrounded by water as far as the eye can see." Absol nodded sympathetically.

"Horrifying. I had trouble so much as sleeping because I would wake up with my tails having shifted into the water from the constant motion."

"Takes dedication to make the trip all the way over here then." Charizard rumbled "Especially if it was actually just to see us."

"It was really nice of you to come along just for that." I offered, giving a smile.

"Thank you." she replied, returning my smile.

Charizard grunted, though. "We know two people named Ninetales now," he grumbled, "And the other one's the queen-slash-guildmaster, so I doubt she'd just accept some sort of nickname."

 _Straight and to the point._

Ninetales looked surprised, before giving a coy smile at Absol. "Replaced me already, have you?" she teased. Absol didn't really get that she was teasing, and paled just a little. She laughed it off and nudged him with her paw. "Oh, calm down. I know the queen myself."

We all blinked in unison, with the exception of Magnezone. "...What?" we all asked, "How?"

We got a wink in response, although it was mostly in Absol's direction. "That is for me to know, and it is my business never to let anybody find out, for no other reason than for the humor of watching everyone scramble to discover this."

 _Well… We all know where Absol got his vague tendencies, considering he's been her friend before we ever met her…_

Seeing a pokemon that looks a lot like the queen wink was a bit surreal. But that was irrelevant, right? It would just help me differentiate the two. And a nickname would probably be a good idea…

But I really couldn't think of one at all. I think it was because I was super forgetful around this Ninetales. In fact, I probably would totally forget her name every single time I tried to talk to her, which would be awkward. Then again, thinking about it, if I approached a ninetales and totally forgot everything I was supposed to know about her, I would be able to identify her that way.

I was content with this. If I could not control whatever freaky affliction was in my head, an affliction that Caleb himself inadvertently implied that he himself couldn't truly identify beyond it being somewhat similar to multiple personality disorder, I could control any loopholes I might find.

"We can think of a nickname eventually" I pointed out "Or… Somebody else will have to, because I won't remember. But it's great to have you around, Ninetales."

"Thank you." she replied with a smile.

Our unexpected visitor joined us on our aimless walk. And I really meant aimless. We had literally nothing to do, and had decided to find something other than a mission to do today. Not difficult to regret a choice after the fact, because we were set up to just wind up lazing around…

On the other hand, that didn't sound too bad. I had been in the mindset of a rescue team; do something every day. Help someone every day. That mindset is always a good one, unless the requests are all gone and you're left feeling kind of useless and having nothing to do.

So I mentioned that. "Hey, guys," I said, looking back at them. "Why don't we pull what Caleb and Daemyn did yesterday and just kind of hang out? Find somewhere and just kind of relax. It's been a long time since we've really done that…"

"That's a good idea" Charizard mused, thoughtful. "'cept we don't know anywhere to do our lazing around"

I stopped, sweatdropping. "Right," I said, my ears lowering on my head. What an epic failure. Weeks in this place and I've done nothing in the way of learning what nice places there were. "Well… Maybe we could find somewhere?"

"In other words, we're off on a walk to find some random location," Charizard said "Fun. Let's be off."

"Except we can't fly." Absol nodded at Ninetales "Not enough room on Charizard and Magnezone. We'll be walking or running."

"Fine by me," Charizard grumbled back.

"A walk sounds nice," Ninetales commented from the back.

And so we walked. Over to the crossroads, where I knew Jake and Jess had gone. We saw Swampert alone this time around; the water and ground type was organizing the large bag over his shoulder.

"Hey." Charizard greeted his fellow large pokemon. "Morning."

"Morning." Swampert greeted his friend.

"I thought Jake would be around you when you went on a mission," Charizard noted, pointing at the empty space next to and beneath Swampert. Said swampert shrugged.

"It's at Dark Crater. Not exactly electric explorer material," he explained simply "We agreed this morning. Jess dragged Jake out for a walk afterward anyways."

I wondered if we would end up at Dark Crater someday. I hoped not. It sounded scary. "Well, I'll let you get to that." Charizard nodded with a smirk "But we really have to have a rematch. Our latest contest in strength ended in a tie."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Swampert grumbled good-naturedly as he walked off. "I **trounced** you."

Both chuckled, and then Swampert was off. The rest of my team and I smiled at the sight. Well, not Magnezone. I really need to remember that he can't do facial expressions well. "You two are great friends," I said to Charizard.

His face fell slightly. "It'll suck going back to where we've lived for so long," he muttered.

I blinked. Going back? I hadn't even thought about it. Back at home, there were a lot of people who resented me, for numerous reasons. Here… There just weren't. I saw people I knew, but they acted way less hostile towards me. though hostility was only one of the feelings. Fear was honestly more prevalent.

I was too powerful.

And then… Caleb fixed that for me. I was still too powerful, but it didn't **matter** anymore. Nobody around here resented me right now… Would that change if I went back, if I didn't have Caleb around to help, would people forget that?

It was eating at me, well and truly. What on earth was I even supposed to do? I couldn't ask Caleb to just come to my home with our team. He's kind of needed here. And he likes it here. I couldn't do that to my friend. So what was I supposed to do?

"Shall we continue?" Absol asked us. I smiled and nodded. We almost, **almost** made it out of there before we were interrupted. Then again, 'almost' is about as useful as unlimited strength in a peaceful world. What happened was, a team of three pokemon walked down the staircase from the guild.

Alakazam, Tyranitar, and their charizard all stepped up. They looked about as surprised as we were by the circumstances. All eight of us blinked, although Ninetales was hidden from their view when they stopped by Charizard's body.

"Uh…" I muttered, cowering a bit. I tried to be strong, I really did, but Tyranitar initiated an instant fear response. I backed up a few steps worriedly.

"...Hello." Alakazam began. He shot be a glance that was less than flattering and looked at my teammates, who appeared much more hostile towards the group.

When they did not move on immediately, Charizard became frustrated. "What do you want?" he growled, "If you don't want anything, move on."

Naturally, this pissed the other Charizard off a little, and both fire lizard pokemon stepped towards each other threateningly. Alakazam seemed less inclined to be involved, but I noticed that he wasn't bothering to stop it.

I remembered Caleb chastising the psychic type for never making an effort to create a school or something where pokemon could learn if they wished and become capable in areas such as mathematics if they chose, and Alakazam's answer had been… Well, Caleb hadn't been impressed. In fact, he had muttered something about the psychic not being proactive enough later when we were talking about aimless things.

Proactive, Alakazam is **not** , and that is why his teammates can be aggressive and not be rebuked. I thought maybe he would have known better than that. But the two charizards were next to each other now. my Charizard had three inches on the other, and had proven in the last fight that he was much stronger.

Absol could handle Tyranitar on his own, as the hulking pokemon was not the brightest bulb out there and tended to use the same techniques over and over again.

And I could become an umbreon to avoid and negate Alakazam's psychic attacks. The battle would be relatively easy if it came to it, but I hoped that it wouldn't.

"I could ask you the same thing." the other charizard told my best friend with a growl, not cowed by his size in comparison to my Charizard.

There was a tension in the air now. I continued to back up step by step while everyone glared at each other. "Guys, I know they've been hostile, but we don't need to fight." I pleaded.

"Sorry Amber," Charizard told me in a tone that wasn't taking no for an answer. "But I've been waiting years to do this, and I've been holding myself back because you asked me to, but I can't watch them glare at you anymore."

"What exactly are you going to do-" the other charizard was cut off when Charizard punched him right in the face with the strength attack. I bit back a curse and waited for them to retaliate. it took all of a second for Tyranitar to bring a stone edge by best friend's way, and he wasn't in any position to dodge.

Naturally, I got in the way and felt the jagged rock slam into my cheek and send me flying before I crashed into a tree. Charizard would be safe. He wouldn't get nailed by such a brutal attack. I blinked the stone dust out of my eyes in time to see Alakazam roar " **Enough**!"

Everyone stopped and looked. The fire around both Charizards' fists went out. I walked forward, as did Ninetales. Alakazam's eyes were in fact on Ninetales.

"Ah… Ninetales." Alakazam muttered with surprise. "I did not expect you."

"Indeed," she replied dryly. "And I am not happy with you, Alakazam. I expected this child to be free of torment after their name was cleared. Instead, I learn that she has been scorned and ignored for a long period of time afterward. I had learned of such during the times when Absol visited me, but I was not aware that it had been so heavy."

Team ACT waited with bated breath for her to continue, looking worried. I don't know how powerful she herself is, but Ninetales had appeared out of nowhere last time. And had likely frightened them. (I had been terrified until I found out she was nice.)

"From what I understand, and considering the building tension that you have caused, Charizard here on Amber's side was very justified in striking the other. This is pathetic. truly pathetic, that little innocent Amber would be scorned because she had more power than she would be able to handle, because she was unwittingly thrown into an unfamiliar world with no memory. It disgusts me." Ninetales continued.

"...We must be cautious around the girl-" Alakazam started slowly

"Use her name." Absol ordered coldly.

"We must be cautious around Amber." Alakazam tried to explain "She is extremely dangerous and volatile, inconsistent and-"

"Kind and caring and generous and the best friend I could ever have." Charizard interrupted the psychic type, fists on fire again.

Alakazam opened his mouth in my Charizard's direction, and Charizard growled at him. "Don't even start," he grumbled "You're just one of those nutters who don't like admitting that they've done something wrong, who fails to accept other people's point of view. Get out of here before I mash you into the dirt with enough power to punch through into Spinda's Cafe underneath."

The trio turned and went away pretty quickly after that, Alakazam looking troubled. Everyone looked at me while I tried to get over the confrontation. Alakazam could have hurt Charizard. The leader of team ACT was very powerful. We knew this. I didn't want to have to jump in and get in the way as an umbreon. I didn't want to have to defeat him either.

I ran over to Charizard. "Are you okay?" I asked, worried. "Did he hurt you?"

He smiled down at me. "Not a bit. Thanks for the save," he said gratefully "That would have hurt like hell if you hadn't taken it for me."

I sighed with relief. "Thank goodness…" I muttered. "I'm glad you're all right."

"Who, me?" Charizard asked me with a grin "I would have stomped him flat."

I frowned. "Isn't the other guy the one who…" I muttered. He laughed and rolled his eyes. I smiled at that, knowing the tension was past. I was actually really glad that Caleb wasn't here. Because part of the resentment originated because I was different, human. People never really dropped the human thing since Gengar publicly put me in the spotlight and claimed that I was responsible for the natural disasters.

Although if I'm honest, Gengar's been treating me a lot better than team ACT. He's still mean. I mean, he's really really mean, but he does it with a grin on his face and a lot of the mean things he does nowadays boil down to pranks. And he **talks** to me when he's bugging us. Which is more than Alakazam did.

"...Shall we go?" I asked. The others nodded and we moved down to the plains.

 **Sarah's POV**

I'm not a fan of dreams.

Seriously. They're starting to really annoy me. Focusing in closer and closer to the current day. I was somehow reigning in that power. Instead of being shown random events, I find myself looking around in a much closer point.

It scared me when I found myself in the tournament the other day, which I found myself in six days before that. Caleb knew about my dreams, but I spoke to him right there. I whispered questions about the date and time, and told him what was happening.

Then when I woke up, I explained the surreal dream to Caleb. He seemed skeptical still that they were not dreams, but it didn't last too long. Because I came up with an idea. Something he would ask me, something he told me the answer to that I did not know. Why did I come up with it? Because he asked me a random question in the dream and I didn't understand what the heck he was talking about.

He asked me for the equation to calculate the volume of a sphere of course. I hadn't known it at the time. I did then.

And five days later, I blacked out during the tournament all of a sudden, and woke up just as quickly to find Caleb staring oddly at me. I had acted totally different for fifteen minutes. About as long as that dream had lasted. I had made sure to get Caleb to remind me that morning about it. four thirds pi times the radius cubed. Four thirds pi times the radius cubed. Over and over I repeated it in my head, and I told it to Caleb over and over during the day.

And then I couldn't. Because I was in darkness and the me from the past was running the show for fifteen minutes. I marveled at this. I could predict the future and warn people about it, and the only thing was that no matter what, **I** would be the one surprised by the event.

Until Caleb shot it down. He reminded me that while it did happen the way I had predicted, and that he believed I could see the future, he then proceeded to remind me that the future was easily changed.

Caleb gave me a lesson that I paid the utmost attention to. The reason what happened wound up happening was because no actions actually changed. we did the same thing that we would have done, and so the end result wound up being what I saw. He made his own prediction: if I predicted something, and I changed what would happen, I would not black out and everything would proceed as normal.

This is where I had to be cautious, he said. Because ultimately, if you see something you want to happen, my actions could easily change that future. If I changed them at all with the prediction in mind, he said, it would be far more likely for that action to directly affect the prediction.

I didn't question his temporal theories, because I had reached at least one of those conclusions beforehand. Basically, he initiated another test.

Today's test. I had dreamed that we would walk in on Erza and Daemyn while they were talking in Spinda's Cafe. Caleb heard this prediction. And he proclaimed that we would not be going to Spinda's cafe today. He admitted that it would be difficult to justify considering that the Spinda's Cafe was where Caleb showed things every day. He solved this by finding multiple people, including Twilight, who was following behind Singe, and a few other teams that we had met, and asked them to pass along the information that Caleb would not be entering the Spinda's Cafe at any point today, and to spread the exact information as to **why** he would not be there.

He even made the point to inform Singe that he had informed team Eternal Flame, and thus had no reason to go near them, for Vulnona's sake. He did, in fact, inform Redmund's team, and found Shulk and Kemuri talking happily in the process.

"A shame, but I get it," Redmund told Caleb and I when he heard the news. "Never heard of a future sight application manifesting like that, but Sarah…" he trailed off, and Shino picked up the pace from there, turning to me.

"You are unique in many, many ways," she told me. It wasn't a compliment nor criticism. It was a simple statement. I smiled in my way of saying thanks anyhow. The word 'unique' was always a positive word. Whereas 'weird' was the negative term.

Caleb had turned his attention to the kids that were playing. I knew that Caleb liked watching kids play around. It seemed to give him a sense of calm, or at least a sense that he could relax just a bit.

"Caleb?" I asked, "Wouldn't it have been better to hold off this test until a time when we knew what time we would be needing to avoid a place or a person?"

He gave a smile, making my heart pound harshly as I registered that his smile was actually directed at me. "No, actually," he refuted my statement. "In all actuality, not knowing the time is an excellent way to determine something entirely different. We know that that could have happened at any time during the day. This is… Practice, I suppose you could say. A lesson. One to be extra careful regarding your actions regarding the future."

"So… It helps because we need to always keep it in mind during the day, and not assume that some point will be the wrong time?" I asked.

"The very reason I asked you to ask those in the future vision what the date was, and **not** the exact time." Caleb agreed. "If, for example, we went down to the cafe at eleven-fifty nine at night, when it is technically today's date, we could still manage to initiate that incident. I intend for us to succeed today, and to do that we must go through the day without you blacking out."

"So that my dream never wound up happening." I clarified. "Which is really weird, Caleb. It's weird because I've experienced moments in time that don't actually happen."

"Moments that become irrelevant. Odd as it may feel, it gives you more experience, just as I can train within my own dream. You can learn from things that you experience, such as how others will react when you say certain things, which may help you avoid mistakes. However, you must be careful. If you take such a risk and cannot appropriately change the future, then you will have to face the consequences for such a risk."

"In other words, be responsible." I understood.

"Precisely," he nodded. "What you do with your abilities is your decision. It will never be mine."

I drew back. Was he **expecting** the words that were about to escape my mouth about him being better at decision making? "Caleb, do you have the ability to use future sight as well?" I asked.

"No." he told me flatly. "As impeccably useful as such a technique might be, I myself cannot do it. I would request that you tell me if any of my plans are going to go horribly wrong, but even then it is your decision.

I was struck by inspiration. Really, it hit me right in the ear. "Well, I can think of one plan that's going to fail already." I proclaimed in a serious tone. I got a worried look.

"...What is it?" he asked blindly, caught way off guard. I gave him a smirk. A very flirtatious one.

"Why, your plan not to fall in love," I told him, moving forward.

"Kiss the dirt instead," he told me, smashing my head into the ground with his paw. "Humorous," he deadpanned, before walking off. "I am going to find Shedinja. Feel free to trail me or whatever you call that stalking-esk action you pull."

I spit out dirt. "Okay!" I agreed, following him.

As I caught up to him, he looked over at me. "You are beginning to show that you are far more clever than you initially believed," he told me. "I believe your ability to strategize and plan is far more than you might imagine. And you listen when I give lessons… And yet you are far more charismatic. You spend more time in consideration of emotions and how others feel rather than what they need, and that too, can be important."

"My reason for saying this is that I believe you can be just as brilliant as I am." He continued "And I feel that considering your utter devotion to staying near me, you will find yourself continuing to improve and learn and grow. I can only build the future. You can help stabilize it. I am not as in tune with emotions as you might be."

"I don't understand what you're trying to say," I told him. He was kind of dragging it on. I loved his voice, obviously, but at this rate, we were going to be interrupted.

"I am saying that in a nonsubjective, **nonromantic** way, we innately create what I believe is the greatest possible team." he clarified, emphasizing the lack of romance as if I would let that slide.

"Keep dreaming on the 'i don't feel romantic love' thing, furball." I teased him. He was just so endearing when in denial. "Hey, where does Shedinja fit in?"

Caleb slowed to a stop. "I suppose… He is a catalyst for many of my plans. That, and he is an excellent friend. He cares about things that occur and he cares about others. As a friend, he is as indispensable as you are as a friend. He too is bright, and listens to me when he can, his nature as a catalyst for my plans for the future revolve around his near invulnerability."

I smiled. "And, as you said, he's your friend." I reiterated "Which is the most important thing."

Caleb's expression changed. I blinked. I had trouble understanding what that expression was. Which was crazy; I am **great** at understanding expressions. What the heck was on his face? Sadness? "Are you remembering your old friends, Caleb?"

"...I hadn't been." Caleb told me softly. Not sadness on his face… Guilt? Why would he feel guilty after I mentioned friendship's importance? Or… Was that why? Was he ashamed that he, unlikely as it sounded to my mind, had other, deeper beliefs that friendship was not the most important thing, and it was eating him from inside?

Because I was right that time. He had guilt on his face.

 _Oh, Caleb… I may be crazy, and obsessive, but… Your priorities are out of whack. The fact that I'm okay with that should say just how much I love you._

I watched him continue to walk, and I followed him without much thought or hesitation. The fact was, I was hopeless. I felt it deep down. Controlling myself just got more and more difficult as time went on. I needed to think. I needed to find a solution before I totally **lost** it and tackled Caleb and tried to kiss him until the both of us fell unconscious from lack of oxygen.

I was hit by a bit of inspiration. If I could tear myself away from Caleb for a little bit. "Hey…" I said, bringing his attention to me again. "I don't know what's going on with you exactly, but you need to cheer up," I told him. "So we might disagree on the friendship thing, that's fine. It's going to be fine." I assured him. "Would it help you to think?"

He looked down. "I… Would like to think," he confirmed. I smiled at him.

"Do you know where Goldeneye is?" I asked him.

"No."

This was gonna be tough… "I'll…" I struggled to get the words out. "I'll let you think and I'll find her."

 **That** was what earned me a wonderful smile from Caleb. Something much brighter than what he gave me from time to time. He was grateful. Very grateful. **extremely** grateful. "Thank you, Sarah. I appreciate the efforts you make," he told me honestly, and he walked away.

I forced myself to turn away, moving to find Goldeneye or Braixen. Or some other magic user. I was uncertain of how that would play out, but I needed to find one.

I found Skyfall, which was a plus. "Hey," I called out to him, dragging his attention from the view he was watching. The zoroark was looking out from the top of a boulder, looking out over the landscape for whatever reason. "What are you doing?" I asked.

"Not sure," he replied "Not much to do. Mom's still got a lot of stuff that she's working on at once. I'm surprised she's not overviewing plans with… Your boyfriend, right?"

"I wish." I muttered "Anyways, can you tell me where your mom is? I need to talk to her."

"Sure. She's spent some time planning and preparing a way to try and permanently seal Caleb's instincts so that he can 'live normally' as she said. Dad's spending time with her right now, over somewhere in that direction."

 _Best I'm gonna get this time around._

"Thanks." I thanked him and was on my way. Traveling into a wooded area around the town, I found that I hadn't been around here before. Oddly enough, we were always on some sort of job, officially or not. No time for exploring in random directions.

But I had a feeling. I spread my senses out. My absol senses proved to show that there was a certain degree of energy to this forest. Everything was brighter to my absol senses, as if magic was coursing through the place. If this was where Goldeneye practiced things, it was no wonder that residual magic power was showing up in my senses. It was like the forest had a protective field of magic aura in it.

"Goldeneye!" I called out, looking about. I didn't see her. I couldn't hear much. A lot of our senses had to do with focus. The more we focused on a single sense, the clearer that sense was. Not including vision of course.

"Oi!, Goldeneye!" I called again. I saw some light in the forest a ways out there. I started moving towards it at a quick pace, only to find that it was further than I thought. For several minutes I ran, not entirely understanding why I felt the need to hurry.

Until I realized that my heart was urging me to run back to Caleb, and I tried to shove that down as best as I could. I needed Goldeneye. And I needed Caleb. But right now I needed Goldeneye. I ran into a clearing, and skidded to a halt.

There were a **lot** of magic runes about, glowing gold. They made an interesting flower-ish pattern on the ground, and rings of runes were on the bark of nearby trees at odd levels. Goldeneye herself was drawing runes in seemingly random places.

"Goldeneye!" I exclaimed, startling the busy pokemon and making her straighten quickly, turning around. Her eyes flashed red for a moment.

"This rune can be unstable if drawn inprop-... Sarah." she interrupted herself, her eyes flashing red for a moment. "...Why are you here?"

The guarded tone she took had me surprised. "Am I not welcome?" I asked, confused.

"Not in this clearing." Goldeneye stepped out of it and met me beyond the border, in the trees. "It is possible you might sabotage any attempt to help Caleb ignore his new emotions, that are both natural and unnatural for him."

My mouth opened and I said: "Oh."

I really hadn't thought about it. The instant she said it, I really, really wanted to do just that. It was nearly overwhelming. "Ah…" I said, scrunching my face from the effort of shoving the immense impulse down. "Let's… Move away before I can't…" I off and jumped away when I could. "I need help…" I said in a quieter voice.

She eyed me critically. But the expression softened as she looked at my face. I guess I looked pretty dang conflicted. "What did you need?" she asked me.

I looked her in the eye. "I am very worried that my mind is affected by some sort of magic," I revealed to her. "When my mind is working properly, when it's not fixated on Caleb, or rather, right after it is, I feel like something's wrong, like something's making me more and more… Obsessed with Caleb. Like, it would get worse over time. Could you maybe do something to tell if I've got some weird spell on me or something?

The delphox understood quickly. She tapped her wand against my head and started muttering. There was a bit of a glow, or at least, I thought so. I couldn't actually see any light, but it was like… an Invisible glow or something. I don't know how to describe it.

Goldeneye gave a 'hmm'. I figured that there must be something wrong with me. Something was in my head, messing with it, amplifying the love I had for Caleb to utterly disruptive levels. Someone had cast some sort of spell on me or something, something that was trying to make life harder between Caleb and I and maybe even laughing in the background at the result. Laughing as I, spurred on by massively boosted emotions and impulses, make Caleb's progress that much harder to achieve. I couldn't see any other reason for there to be some sort of magic spell on me to amplify what I feel for Caleb. It was crazy. The entire idea was crazy, and yet that was the only conclusion I could draw. I remembered Caleb, talking about how I had the capacity to be just as smart as him, and I wondered what he would say. I wondered how he would advise for me to proceed. I think it was most likely that he would ask me to consider every potential alternative, but I really just don't see it. This enchantment couldn't have been sustained on me with the best of intentions. It **couldn't**.

"I am not detecting a thing, Sarah."

* * *

 **Erza's POV**

"Where d'you think they are?" I asked, sipping my drink.

"Dunno," Daemyn replied, coughing up some fire after taking a sip of his pure, yes, pure tamato smoothie.

"Think it matters?"

He took another sip. "It's Caleb. Everything he does matters."

"Point." I nodded. "Or maybe Sarah's chasing him around."

"Both." Daemyn decided. I looked over at Spinda, across the counter from were sat at the counter in front of her rather than at a table, side by side, having a casual conversation over drinks. Somehow, I felt as if it made sense to do this. although we had to pull chairs up to the counter. Although Spinda immediately banned having more than three people at the counter because enough people stole our idea that nobody could order for a while. So she ordered everybody but us and some ditto person out of there.

Incidentally, said ditto person was now in my shape and size. Irritating bugger was even drinking the same drink on purpose. I had to keep an eye on him. People with the power to transform tend to take advantage of it and be mischievous. Dittos and zoruas typically cause a lot of problems with other people's looks.

And dittos can learn the moves of the people they copy, which isn't cool. My leaf flail is **my** move. Nobody else's. This guy, well, girl, was not gonna get away with stealing my moves. Pretty sure he qualified as a male ditto beforehand, which made it extra odd.

Daemyn spit more fire out of his mouth. "One Erza was one too many Erzas," He muttered quietly. Both of me shot him the exact same glare, and because there had been a bit of a commotion before, Daemyn couldn't tell which of us was which. How annoying would this have to be?

Some pancham started causing havoc, of course, and in the confusion I tried to make it clear that I was the real me, but instead, what happened was that after we had rescued our drinks and sat down again, one of each of us was on either side of Daemyn. Poor guy was sweating as he tried to figure out which of us was the real one without any issue.

Both of me glared at each other. "I really hate this," I said.

"That's my line," I responded.

"Shut up!" I shouted at myself. Twice.

"Shut up! Both of you!' Daemyn cried out helplessly. "Seriously, Ditto, whichever one of you is the ditto, cut. It. Out."

Spinda seemed to be watching us curiously, between us. Great. Even she couldn't tell the damn difference. Much more of this and **I** was going to be the one questioning my own validity.

Eye twitching could be seen five minutes later as Daemyn tried to handle me making two conversations towards him at once. His eye was twitching, my eye was twitching…

"Gah… This sucks." I complained, leaning back.

"Yep." the other me replied, taking a sip of their drink.

"Why do you even keep showing up?" I asked "Seriously. Once a few weeks or so, I see a ditto around and I think it's you. What the heck is wrong with you, following me everywhere?"

She glared at me. "Don't try to pin this on me," she snarled in my usual tone of frustration "Stop causing trouble, Ditto!"

"Alright-" I started, pushing against the counter to stand up

"That's enough of that," she finished for me, doing the exact same. We glared at each other and summoned my weapons. "Stop copying me!"

"Get out of here!" I exclaimed, and lunged. My blade sparked against hers, and our flails crashed uselessly together. I winced. The other me knew my tricks like she was reading out of a book. How annoying.

I growled. She smirked. And then Daemyn promptly interrupted. A shadow ball immediately slammed the other me away across the room, where it promptly melted into pink goo and reformed as an unconscious ditto.

"Thanks," I said, "why exactly didn't you do that before?"

"'Cause I didn't know for sure until she smirked. You only smirk when you know for certain that you're gonna win, or when you have a clever plan." He explained fluidly. "Back to our drinks?"

"Yeah." I agreed. "Dittos are so, so annoying."

"Hey, they can be useful, and not all of them are automatically bad." Daemyn pointed out.

I remembered that Caleb and Sarah had taught Daemyn pretty clearly not to assume things about people. If one good thing came out of that experience, it was that and… "Hey, remember the time we dumped a bucket of water on you and Sarah?" I asked with a smirk.

Daemyn glared at me. "Oh, I remember, and if water didn't make plants grow, I'd do the same to you." He threatened. Then, he looked down. "That was the first time I saw Caleb do anything that was really out of character for him. And later, his instincts become more of a problem quicker. Maybe if we noticed the change earlier, we could have helped him fix it."

I scoffed. "You're forgetting that he was acting like he could go from collected to joking the whole time we knew him at first." I pointed out. "And **Caleb** didn't notice. How could we have?"

"He noticed later when he started getting headaches," Daemyn added, thoughtful, "but at the same time, we figured out that his instincts were at least… Well…"

I nodded in understanding. It was hard to describe. Caleb avoided headaches by listening to his instinctual impulses instead of ignoring him. He was doing something entirely different that he hadn't disclosed to us at this point yet. Not that he needed to. But his instincts were totally complicated, even by pokemon standards.

Daemyn changed the topic again. "Seriously, though, those dittos have the ability to be a huge problem," he brought that topic up again. "That one was sorted really easily, but when I was a kid, I met one that was way worse than that mischief maker. This one became me, and he did this thing that scared me for a long time. He spoke exactly when I did, and in the same voice. Mirroring my movements."

"How could anybody possibly tell which was the real one, then?" I asked.

"Dad tickled the two of us, and the ditto couldn't hold the transformation," Daemyn revealed. "That's key. If you see a lookalike of you or deal with a ditto, just tickle them. They can't handle it."

"Good to know-Oi! You know how to do that, and you didn't do it immediately?" I asked him, furious.

"Hehe…" he muttered sheepishly.

 **Bang!**

I ignored Daemyn's whimpering, put away my flail, and sipped my drink again. I realized I had no idea how that ditto had gotten its drink, just like my own, but I dismissed it. "Just tickle me next time," I muttered. Then my eyes opened wide. "I didn't actually say that, right?"

"No, you did, and I'm gonna hang it over your head as long as I can," Daemyn replied cheerfully, downing the rest of his tamato juice, breathing out the last of the flames. I'm pretty sure that tamatos can't actually make you breathe fire, but the juices were flammable, meaning he was activating a fire fang to do that trick. It was neat, don't get me wrong, but the inside of his mouth had to be utterly roasted by now.

"Are you okay?" I asked him. "Seriously, your mouth can't be all right after that nonsense."

"I've learned how to manipulate water aura in my body. You know how you can minimize fire damage by focusing all your energy to the point where you get hit by fire? I focus it in my mouth for that little trick. I get a little burned, but not nearly as badly burned." he explained to me patiently. Huh. Well, it'd be a mistake for me to try that anyways.

"Okay." I finally said, without much else to talk about. I scrambled to find a conversation topic. "Anyways, what happened to the ditto that messed with you when you were a cute little puppy?

He glared at me, just like I wanted. "In no way I was I cute or adorable!"

 _Never said adorable. He's heard that once too many times and has an automatic response to it. I'll press him later._

"Anyways." Daemyn continued "After it was revealed as a ditto, my parents were kind of cross with it. Said things like how 'dittos like them shouldn't be trusted.', which I realize now wasn't exactly what they said, and they probably meant something along the lines of how people who acted like **that** shouldn't be trusted, but little pup me interpreted it way differently."

"Oh…" I muttered, potential adorableness joke diminishing from my mind as I figured out what Daemyn was trying to say. "Is that why you…"

"Yeah, I never learned much different. Moved out from my parent's place to start an exploration team, but I kinda did fall into the gullibility of believing stereotypes." Daemyn muttered quietly. "It's not something I like talking about much, hence why I said I didn't remember before…"

I realized he was talking way too quietly for anybody else to hear, so I nodded. "I won't say anything about it," I told him. "Visit your family much?" I asked.

"Not as often as I should," he muttered in response. "Work every day, you know? And being stuck in the guild for a long time as an apprentice tends to stick a habit in you. Needs to be fixed, you know? Family leave on occasion would probably do a world of good for habit forming."

"Week off," I grumbled. "At least you're from around here. I don't know if My family's been around lately. Might be, of course. It's a golden opportunity, but I haven't seen them yet. Why not visit them tomorrow? I'm sure they'd love to see the new you and hear of all your shenanigans."

"Thanks," Daemyn replied. "I'll do that. By the way, you can always ask around and describe your family. Somebody will have seen them somewhere." he pointed out.

"Nice call." I nodded. "Makes me feel dumb, but that's my fault."

"Yyyyep," Daemyn confirmed with a smirk, swishing his tail.

My eyes narrowed, and Daemyn seemed to prepare himself for a strike, but I just leaned back relaxedly with my own smirk and said: "Tell me more about how adorable you were."

Daemyn's flustered face made everything we just went through all worth it. "Wha-you-no. Just no. Shut up."

"I'm not letting this drop," I told him frankly. And a plan started forming in my head. An evil plan. A devious, evil plan. I forced myself not to smile. "I'll figure it out someday."

"If it's the last thing I do, you will never, ever learn," Daemyn told me frankly.

 _We'll see about that._

"I'll visit my parents tomorrow." Daemyn decided. "Early."

I smiled.

 _Perfect._

* * *

 **Sarah's POV**

...What?

Goldeneye didn't detect any magic? But… That… That didn't make sense! This didn't feel natural in any way anymore. Now that I was thinking a lot like Caleb, it was so obvious that the constant increase in my need to have Caleb was completely abnormal! How is it that magic wasn't involved?

Or maybe I was just a pathetic, obsessed absol looking for an excuse…

That was starting to make sense too. I was different from the normal in basically every way. My special abilities swapped with my physical strength, my attitude in general, my coloring, my ability to hear dying heartbeats, and basically everything else… Was it so hard to believe I was so messed up in the head that I really could have my obsession escalate merely on its own.

"Oh…" I said, looking down.

Goldeneye looked away from me. "Now, I agree that your… Obsession seems far too constant to be natural, and it's constant escalation more than makes that seem evident. There is another possibility."

"That I'm just…"

"Don't bother finishing that sentence." Goldeneye scolded me sternly while her mate, Goldfinger, approached, intrigued by the unexpected proceedings. I eyed her tiredly, aware that the thought of being with Caleb still bit at the back of my mind, distracting me constantly.

"Because there is another potential explanation that I would normally discount. In this situation, however…"

I perked up quick. "W-what is it!?" I demanded.

"...I make a point to know all of those more distinguished than I am at using magic in the world." Goldeneye began explaining. "Someone with more knowledge of magic than myself may have a way of hiding a spell from my own destinguished identifying enchantment. In nearly every case, this case included, the enchanter does have to be nearby to sustain the concealment."

"...Meaning?" I asked, not really wanting to think about it.

"It means…" Goldeneye's eyes were hard and cold. "If it is an enchantment, someone is not only capable of breaking the rules on a whim, but is entirely capable of such powerful magic that my own revealing enchantment was useless against the concealing spell… And they do not have to be nearby. Someone powerful is watching you, Sarah, in the shadows. And I am not certain they mean well.

* * *

 **Θ Omniscient POV Θ**

"Whaaaat!?"

The sound rang through silence as the girl paced back in forth in front of a swirling ring of gold light, which seemed to be a gate that showed a planet in it. The Golden Girl walked back and forth, grumbling to herself.

"I be nice, I try to help, and, well, that's nuts!" she ranted "So the spell lasted a little longer than it should have. Fine. Whatever. It's not like it's dangerous or anything. It saved the bloke's life, after all."

"You can hardly claim that they should have known better." A new voice proclaimed, dragging Magic's gaze over to another girl, this one clothed in red. "They are kids, after all."

"Yeah, but they're **smart** kids." Magic pointed out.

"Very smart. For mortal standards, most of them border or surpass the point of **extremely** smart. However, they are extremely bright mortals with no idea who we are, or that we exist in any way." the other girl countered.

"You're just like the rest of our friends, Mrs. No Fun." Magic stuck out her tongue at the red-haired girl, who simply raised an eyebrow.

"I tell every deity who tries to bow down to me to use my name, and to treat me like they would treat a friend. Call me Shula, and don't raise me above you or lower me below you." Shula shook her head. "Immaturity comes naturally to you, I suppose."

"Well, duh." Magic shrugged "I wouldn't have stuck my tongue at you if I were one of the 'mature and responsible adults' that you lot like being so much. It's annoying. Seriously."

"Angelica, please."

"Fine, fine," Angelica muttered, looking away. "Seriously, though, the whole no interference thing is bogus. I'm good at what I do because I practice. Because I get involved all the time. I'm not afraid of my own shadow like you lot are."

Now it was Shula's turn to appear uncomfortable. "You are right, of course, but making a mistake is beyond costly," she reasoned. "I don't like getting involved much anyways."

"'Cept for saving individual people all the time." the golden girl pointed out. "What about that guy in that community of universes?"

A scoff. "That insane place? Why did we ever bother with it?"

"Because I'm nuts and you're too stubborn to quit?"

"Point… And... Double point."

"I wasn't too fond of that place either," Magic admitted. "But that's totally off topic. What's going on now? We're watching a bunch of people scramble around doing different things that are totally unrelated to each other. Those two are off on a date, that one's going underground, that one's being himself, really… Those two are bantering, and she can't take a hint, I didn't even **see** the queen this time around. And little red down there now things that her problem is totally malicious and intended to harm."

"A right mess you've cooked up." Shula sighed, exasperated.

"But it's an **entertaining** mess." Angelica countered "Dozens of people think so every day!"

"Hmph." Shula shook her head at her friend. "Just forget about it. So you messed up an enchantment and it's lasting too long. It'll pass. You know it will, and it's like like they're mad at you or anything. They don't know you exist."

"But-"

"No buts, Angelica. Really. I'm legitimately tempted to tell you to go to your room, but we're in your makeshift room here."

"Can I at least comment on the 'in the shadows' thing?" Angelica whined, "I mean, that just sounds **wrong** when you think about it."

"They don't know Darkness exists either. Now pipe down and watch. You're responsible for making sure this mess doesn't get any worse, and complaining about it's just going to distract you."

"Whatever, Mrs. No Fun. Where's Mr. No Fun, by the way?"

"...Which one?"

Angelica blinked. "Fair," she decided and turned back to watch the planet as the swirling band of energy shifted forms into a golden ring, which changed shapes several times before becoming a ring of spinning energy again. "Eh, I like the energy better. A more… Extravagant image, don't you think?"

"If you're not gonna be talking to me," Shula muttered "I'm going to find one of the 'Mr. No Fun's as you call them and figure out just what the heck I'm supposed to be doing instead of standing around. Fire's not supposed to stand still."

"Go on, then. Git." Magic waved her hand in a dismissive gesture as Fire walked out of the room.

And she snapped her fingers, making everything fade to black.

* * *

 **Not much to say here. Angi did it for me.**

 **Angelica: You bet I did!**

 **Me: No! You do enough fourth wall breaking in the story itself! Git!**

 **Angelica: No. *Turns the camera towards her* so that was a chapter, huh? I bet everyone's wondering what's gonna happen now. So am I, actually. It's gonna be fantastic! So lets' get this ball rolling in the next chapter... Oh, wait. It started rolling in this one. Oh well, let's see where it ends up then! After the next two chapters, of course. New Age and The Kitsune and the Jackal need some love too! Gabe and Christy are too cute together. Anyways, enough of my rambling, right? Review and stuff, yeah? It's always entertaining when Hyper tries to keep me from reading it. I mean, I have to keep myself entertained somehow, and doing obscure pranks on real life people is always fun! So chapter end, right?**

 **Me: Angelica, it's not for you to-**

 **Angelica: Review, peoples! Chapter end! *Snaps her fingers***


	19. Chapter Nineteen

**Amber: Where's Hyper? He's late...**

 **Jango: It's time to start this, so let's go. He'll show up when he can, if he can. If my traps haven't gotten him.**

 **Amber: Jango! I said no lethal traps!**

 **Jango: And I agreed! No lethal traps!**

 **Amber: *sighs* alright... I guess we'll start without him. (looks at the reviews.) Let's start with-**

 **Amber: ...**

 **Jango: West's lab! I remember that place! I snuck in there one day, swapped out some chemicals with some stuff I nicked from Rainbow Raven and left. Looks like it worked! And it's so adorable that West thinks I didn't have anything to do with it in the first place.**

 **Me: (Stumbles into the room, soaking wet and looking exhausted.)**

 **Amber: Hyper, what happened?**

 **Me: Angelica... Horrible... Disaster...**

 **Jango: Welp.**

 **Amber: Oh.**

 **Me: She played horrifying pranks and turned me into an entity of water for a short while...**

 **Jango: Is that why you're sopping wet?**

 **Me: Yeah... West's worse off, though... She turned him into some crystal golem or something... I think she called the species that...**

 **Jango: (Stiffens) That awful woman went and outclassed me again! Unacceptable! (Bolts off)**

 **Amber: Jango! Wait! ...It's no use. He's gone.**

 **Me: (Shivering) Just... Continue with the reviews...**

 **Amber: Okay, Hyper. Uh... Twisted Moonlight. Yeah, Dittos are genderless until they transform. Their transformations match the other pokemon perfectly. So it's hard to define them as having any gender at all, or even to define them as having no gender. They're just confusing.**

 **Me: I understand that it's tough to remember some of the characters. They are getting numerous at this point. Some of the OCs I received, several of them honestly, have next to no reason to have many interactions with the main characters at all. So it is difficult to keep including them, and makes them less memorable, and I apologize for that.**

 **Amber: I forgot to mention it earlier, but Alger, I never apologized for talking your ear off back then, so... Sorry.**

 **Me: (Shivers again) Bane and Frost and What Lies Beyond are preparing for an assault of some kind. I feel sorry for them. Jango's not even close to starting when his pranks get scary. You may be confident, but Jango really is the most dangerous of the lot. You might want to give the pranks a rest before he starts upping the ante...**

 **Amber: Probably a good idea. Uh... Rocketiermaster? Is being confused a good thing or a bad thing for this? I mean, the rest of the review was kind of positive. And you have your analysis... And Zero Lunar, well... I guess most of my responses to people are on the shy side of the spectrum, but it really can be random often.**

 **Me: I never did finish the first PMD games. I do know that Gengar was an ex-human, but I honestly have not decided if he was so in THIS story. I don't always go canon for some things. Changing some things a bit, and explain it, but Gengar... I have not decided yet. You guys will find out when I do decide, so...**

 **Amber: I think that's the reviews, so... Can we start the chapter?**

 **Me: Please do... I need to find someplace warm...**

 **Amber: Alright then. You reader people... Enjoy the chapter, please.**

* * *

 **Hey, everybody. This is Hyperjade, post-utter stupidity scene. The above A/N for TAC2 was accidentally posted on New Age because I am apparently a dumbass. So here is my bid at no longer being a dumbass. I'll respond to the rest of the reviews that popped up during the period between the last New Age chapter and this.**

 **...Which is one review. Hello, Bookdragon364. This is awkward... I will attempt to alleviate your confusion about Sarah's future sight condition. As for the OCs, I am doing my best to use them all. Some of them are getting limited use, it's true. I hope to continue being successful in that regard. I cannot directly answer your questions, but the best way to answer review questions is to put the answer in the story.**

 **Alright. This isn't gonna get any less awkward, so just... Just start reading, please... Hyperjade out... Gotta go check on West.**

* * *

 **Chapter Nineteen: Confusion.**

 **Shedinja's POV**

I looked about, wondering what I was supposed to be doing right now. I was just kind of floating around with zero purpose; maybe I should find somebody to talk to? But who? I was a shedinja. I don't seem to have much capacity for speech anymore, and having intelligent conversations with others required them to either not know I was there or understanding how I talked.

I invisibly floated about, looking from one place to another. I was invisible because I didn't see any real reason to be visible in the first place.

I continued moving for a while, wondering what the heck I was supposed to do with my day. Caleb had a test planned. Sarah's going along with it. Everyone else is busy…

I looked about for a while. That is, until I saw two familiar faces. An arcanine speaking with a houndoom. The houndoom seemed rather upset, and the arcanine had a triumphant look.

"Singe, please." Twilight pleaded. "You're just making things harder for yourself. After Caleb called you out that day, every advance you've made has attracted angry glares from every single pokemon around us."

"I don't care!" Singe replied casually. "Because I have the perfect plan."

"Making Redmund look inept isn't going to work!" Twilight exclaimed. "He has the skills he needs to make it through whatever you've decided to cook up. You'll make yourself look foolish!"

"Why do you care?" Singe turned on her and asked.

Twilight's look was very hurt. Even a dunce should be able to tell why she cared so much. Heck, I understood it. I wasn't as brilliant as a lot of the others. At least, I thought not. Even I could see it. "Singe…" she whispered. However, she didn't continue, just shyly looked away. The dense arcanine huffed and turned to go away.

" _She likes you, Singe,"_ I spoke mentally. The echoing " **Shedinja** " that sounded caused both pokemon to stiffen as I became visible once again. It was pretty obvious, after all. The arcanine whipped around.

"What kind of- How dare you-were you spying on us?" He asked angrily.

" _...Not really."_ " **Shedinja**."

"What the hell were you saying, anyways?" He wanted to know. Then he hadn't gotten my message at all? Twilight came to that conclusion as well, because she looked at him sadly. Then, Singe looked between Twilight and the path with a **weird** look on his face. "...Weird." He muttered.

"S-Singe? What is it?" Twilight asked.

"Just had an odd thought out of the blue." He muttered. "Anyways, come on, Twilight. I have to have a little chat with Redmund."

If I was capable of smiling, I would have done. **That** worked. Really, really well. I looked at Twilight, watched her look back at me with a confused description on her face, and then I turned invisible. Watching her wander away with Singe was a gratifying thing. I had just implanted the thought that Twilight liked him into Singe's mind.

And suddenly, I had something to do today.

I did not know if it was an honest thing to do, to help others by giving them small mental hints, but still… If I could help people, how should I restrain myself? I had abilities that resulted in me having to speak to people directly through the subconscious. That was my primary talking point. Literally.

And then I thought… If I could somehow, anyhow, mute the one word that came out of my mouth, I could… I could talk to people subconsciously without attracting their direct attention. I was excited… And then conflicted. What right do I have to play with people's minds like that?

I tried to think about it. It was so… Odd. On the one hand, I am controlling other people, but… I am doing it to help them. On the other hand, I could not do any of that, which would not be invasive in any way at all.

...Maybe that wasn't a decision for today. I would have to find something else to do.

Floating about bored was becoming more common nowadays, which was a sobering thought nowadays. I recognized that I might very well have been just as bored without being an empty shell devoid of outwards emotion. I think that was what was most debilitating about it. The same fact that I was distant from just about everyone we knew in some way or another, enough that when we had a break with no work or anything to do, I could just… Float there, bored out of my mind with no friends to hang out with because I have to face it; I did some impressive things, but all of Caleb's friends never wound up being my friends, so much.

Even after such a long time, I kept trying to make facial expressions. And then, I would not feel anything and I would know that my body hadn't moved whatsoever.

Even thinking that, I tried to grimace.

There were people I knew that were about, talking, having fun, generally enjoying themselves. I found myself approaching some groups of people. I just accidentally scared them when I greeted them, because they hadn't any clue I was going to show up and ultimately, they wound up looking at me, and they would have only heard me say 'shedinja'.

 _Maybe I would have a better time talking to the other ghosts._

That thought was simultaneously intriguing and honestly a little bitter. I didn't know any ghost types at all. None. Nada. I would have to find some. This feeling I had in my soul… It felt an awful lot like depression. I had done this to myself, I had to remind myself. This was my fault.

And to be fair, I was happy that it was my own fault in a way. I had no reason to be angry with anyone else, nobody else to blame, and that was good. Because I recognized that I did not want to be angry.

I floated off in another random direction. Maybe if I found some dark place, there would be ghosts about to talk to.

Not invisible any longer, I moved above the other groups as I floated, seeing them turn to watch me. I even heard younger pokemon asking their parents what I was, and some of those parents didn't know. I flinched when I heard that. No, they probably wouldn't know. I imagine most **intelligent** nincada would choose the option that doesn't involve becoming incapable of speech and no longer alive.

 _I didn't know…_

My mental reassurance metaphorically fell on deaf ears. I suppose literally as well, because it was a thought, and as an afterthought, I didn't have ears anyways.

I turned a corner and saw an interesting sight. There was that Alger person speaking with Caleb and Vulnona, with the rest of Vulnona's team in the background.

"Theoretically-" Caleb seemed to be beginning some sort of lengthy and impossible explanation or something that I had trouble listening to. I had developed what I thought was a friendship with Alger, and as a friend, I noticed that Alger looked like he was going to fall unconscious from having his ear talked off about something scientific or… Whatever Caleb was talking about.

Vulnona was a very patient pokemon. Even she looked like she was having a tough time listening. The guy must have been talking for like an hour or something. " _Oi, Caleb,"_ I called out in my mind. " **Shedinja**."

Vulnona blinked herself back to full awakeness, looking about until she saw me. Caleb blinked, and Alger shuddered.

"Yes, Shedinja?" Caleb asked, not looking at me.

" _I think they're starting to fall unconscious."_ " **Shedinja**."

Alger nodded slowly while Caleb clammed up. "Ah… Apologies." Caleb apologized, quickly looking around for signs of Erza first. "I have a tendency to go on tangents…" he trailed off, looking away. He looked distinctly uncomfortable.

"...Sorry." He decided to say, flinching a bit on what he might call a 'mundane' term.

"Not the first time today I've had my ears talked off…" Alger muttered. "Amber had me in place for a long time too. I didn't know she could be so talkative sometimes. Completely different from the shy eevee I normally see when she's talking to something else."

Caleb looked surprised. "Amber has an interesting affliction that I can't quite explain accurately. Her personality seems to change depending on who she is talking to. Many of her personalities are rather… Reserved."

Alger gave an understanding look, but said nothing.

"I feel that I should check on Sarah by this point." Caleb decided suddenly, likely feeling a little bad about doing what he did. The others nodded, Vulnona turning to face him.

"I appreciate your warning." She told him. "I suspect he is being warded off by your presence, but I shall be able to manage."

"Very well," Caleb replied with a small smile, and then he left. Walking away casually.

Alger turned to Vulnona. "As for me, I think I will try my luck at a little exploration." He claimed. The blue ringed umbreon adjusted a small amount of bags strapped to his back for emphasis. I was struck with an idea.

" _Excuse me, Alger?"_ " **Shedinja**."

"Yes, Shedinja?" Alger asked. It seemed Caleb's effect of causing people around him to start speaking in more formal tones for a time. I dubbed it in that moment the Caleb Effect. Causing an odd air of formality that affected people's speech patterns a bit after the event.

" _If I may, I would like to join you. I literally have nothing else to do."_ I claimed in my mind, hoping that I could relieve myself of that boredom. I needed something to do, and Alger seemed nice enough. " **Shedinja**."

"Ah… Sure." Alger decided quickly and started walking. "Your teammates tend to be busy, no?"

" _Constantly. Caleb has experiments to perform, and Sarah has her own… Projects… to pursue. I am pretty sure that as a member of team Edge, I am obliged to find_ _ **something**_ _productive to do in any way."_ I tried to explain. " **Shedinja**."

"Well, you found it," Alger replied. "You find it hard to sleep too?"

" _I don't think I physically can."_ " **Shedinja**."

"...Ah." He replied. "Well, I was going to go north to the mountains. Perhaps I can find something no pokemon has yet. Some maps still put clouds over that area, after all. If I am going to go for a walk, I had better do something useful with myself, right?"

" _That's… A lot like my logic."_ " **Shedinja**."

"Huh," he muttered, walking along as I followed. A smile was only available to my thoughts, but I did want to smile. He had to be looking away from me, had to pretty much ignore me, but he was willing to talk to me and even keep me around.

The logical side of me told me that I had a lot of other people who would do that if I was nearby, like Caleb or Sarah, or all of my friends. Sometimes, however, it's easier to think that there is this crushing weight on me. Perhaps it was my ghostlike nature, but it was easier to look at the downsides quickly.

A little trip, even if it took a few days or so. I quickly excused myself and moved to catch up with Caleb, and quickly asked him if he needed me. I had almost forgotten in my excitement. Actual excitement. Caleb seemed to catch that as well, because he looked me in my empty eye sockets and smiled, and said yes.

I nodded and moved back over nearby Alger. " _I'm ready."_ " **Shedinja** ," I told the umbreon, who was facing away from me still.

"Alright." He nodded, and continued on.

 **Sarah's POV**

I looked at Goldeneye almost incomprehensibly. "Wait wait wait!" I exclaimed, "You're telling me that either I'm nuts, or some superpowered invisible magical maniac has my emotions in their grip!? Those are my only two possible explanations!?"

"Essentially." Goldeneye looked mildly uncomfortable. "It is also theoretically possible that a spell meant as a joke some time ago lasted far longer than intended. However, I have never **personally** seen a spell cast so powerfully that it lasted longer than the caster intended. I have seen them last a shorter period of time than intended, of course. The most likely option for magical intervention is that someone is keeping the spell on you for whatever purpose."

"Then why would you even bring the other option up?" I asked, my voice still a little panicky.

"Because if you disprove the other option, then no matter how unlikely the final option it is it must be true." She replied. "And to clarify, I do not believe you are… 'nuts', as you so eloquently put it. The nature of your affections, particularly the regular increase in need, tells me quite a bit, including that the most likely cause is indeed magic, whether I detected it or not."

I took some deep breaths. "How am I supposed to stop this?" I asked. I hated myself, deep down. I loved Caleb with all my heart, but that was the issue. "How to I fight something I don't want to fight?"

Goldeneye's gold colored eye seemed to flicker with light as she looked me in the eyes. "Focus on what others need rather than what you need." She told me bluntly. "Force yourself to act in the best interests of everyone around you rather than your emotions, because you cannot trust your own emotions. There are many ways to defeat mental magic. Ignoring the impulse may work. If someone is sustaining it, they cannot possibly be doing it forever. If it really is accidentally lasting longer than expected, then it cannot last forever, either. Eventually, it would be over."

I flinched. "But… Goldeneye, is there any other way to beat this without having to wait?" I asked desperately, wanting something, **anything** , to swoop in and save the day for me.

"Mental jarring can help." Goldeneye decided. "Although not all mind based enchantments can be defeated that way. You can think of it this way: If Caleb ever does fall in love, seeing him doing something like kissing them may shock the enchantment badly enough to shatter it."

"But we both know that isn't going to happen…" I murmured.

"That is why I neglected to mention it before." Goldeneye nodded. "Particularly because I intend to finish this project for Caleb. It will be completed soon. Between four days and a week."

I nodded, feeling dejected deep in my heart. "And if I'm just nuts?" I asked.

"Then I do not know what to do for you." Goldeneye closed her eyes.

"...Okay." I muttered. "I'll tell Caleb that at most he only has to wait a week for his instincts to be squashed into oblivion." I realized that my added negative connotations about it may be created by this effect of sorts. I looked Goldfinger in the eyes and nodded the way Caleb might respectfully say goodbye to someone. "Thanks, Goldeneye," I told her, keeping as much pain out of my voice as possible.

"Take care," she replied, and walked back into her clearing. I looked over the seemingly random rings and circles of runes on the grass and trees of that clearing… How badly I wanted to leap in and ravage the entire field.

But I looked away. I didn't blowtorch the field. I didn't do any of what I wanted to do. I wanted Caleb. That was not an acceptable reason for doing damage. Caleb… Caleb **needed** this for his own sanity. And so, I turned away, heartbroken, but knowing it was the right thing to do.

For twenty minutes I walked entirely alone, which lasted until I came across Shulk and Kemuri, who were playing around in the street like any kids would. Absolutely adorable to watch. "Hey, guys." I greeted the two, watching them perk up and look at me in surprise.

"Hi, Sarah!" Shulk exclaimed, waving, while Kemuri took the moment of distraction to tackle him and send both children tumbling off to my left. "Hey!"

I chuckled at the sight. "Having fun?" I asked. Those two were easily going to stay friends for a long time, I could tell that right now. Heck, they'd probably be great friends until such time that they got to adulthood and then…

Yeah, I could predict these kids' futures without having the ability to put my past self into my future body. I knew emotions and relationships when I saw them. Watching Shulk grumbling good-naturedly as he pushed Kemuri off of him and the two turning to me with equal smiles, I felt the pressure on my emotional center ease off a little bit.

"Yep!" They responded happily.

"I'm surprised mom let me off on my own to hang out with Shulk." Kemuri commented pretty quickly "But maybe she was just saving me from Caleb's speech that he looked like he was starting."

I gave an 'ah' noise as Shulk huffed. "We barely escaped with our lives." He joked, chuckling a bit. He and Kemuri high-pawed as they reveled in their escape. I smiled at the two of them and asked where Caleb was now.

"Here."

I bristled in shock and whirled, finding Caleb standing there, five feet away from me. The kids behind me started giggling as Caleb gave me a critical eye. "How is Goldeneye?" He asked me.

I was sorely tempted to tell him he was going to have to wait a long time for his instincts to be shut down, but I looked him in the eyes. My emotions surged, telling me to say what might make him more likely to give him up on that, but my mind told me that would be cruel and unjust, that my emotions were not an accurate representation of what I would naturally be feeling, and finally, that Caleb wouldn't fall for it for an instant. So I looked him straight in the eye, and said: "She said she should be done with it between four and seven days."

He gave me a soft smile. The same smile he gives me when I treat him properly. When I earn his approval and show him the respect that anyone deserves. "Thank you, Sarah." He replied sincerely. "And for your personal question?"

I looked away. "..Goldeneye detected no magic," I revealed slowly. "She agreed that what was happening to me seemed unnatural, but… She gave me alternative potential options that make no sense."

Caleb waited patiently, so I continued. "Her first idea was that someone more proficient in magic than her was casting an enchantment on me **and** hiding the magic from other enchantments made for revealing things… She said this person would have to be nearby me to maintain it."

Caleb frowned.

"And the other option she gave me was that a very powerful spell might have lasted longer than intended, but she said that was even less likely, and by her voice, she probably meant unlikely for a lot of reasons."

Caleb's frown did not cease. "At no point has any single pokemon been anywhere near the both of us every time we were together. It would have been impossible for someone to conceal it." He said. Considering his skills with his absol senses, I believed him without any doubt. And because it was Caleb, of course.

"That tells me that…" Caleb trailed off for a moment "That the formerly mentioned possibility is impossible, and the latter is incredibly unlikely. It tells me that-"

"That I'm nuts?" I asked quietly, "Yeah, I got that."

'That isn't the term I would use…" Caleb murmured. "Although… I would hope that we can help you grow past this, in any of the potential ways that this… Affliction manifests."

I gave him a smile. "Do you know how much it means to me that you are trying to figure this out?" I asked him, unable to prevent the sweet tone entering my voice.

"About as much as every other thing I do means to you." Caleb guessed, turning away. "Shedinja got my permission to head out with Alger on a little exploration trip. I got the sense that he was beginning to feel as if he was not accomplishing anything."

"Or that he felt his options when looking for others to talk to was limited." I pointed out, and Caleb gave me a short lived look and a nod.

"That had not occurred to me." He admitted, turning away from me. "It is an odd feeling to discover that I had not put the more personal options into consideration when discussing the mental state of a good friend."

"Hey." I interrupted before he could continue. "It's alright. He'll be fine.'

He opened his mouth to deliver what might have been a powerful retort about how he should know better or be better, but he shut his mouth and just stopped talking. I grimaced at the sight, but I didn't push him. How I wanted to push him, though. How I wanted to get close and ask him to tell me everything on his mind in that hushed whisper speak.

I shook my head violently. Just being around Caleb made this difficult for me. Still, we had a test to manage today. "So how exactly do you think my version of future sight works?" I asked him, changing the subject.

"I believe that you send your mind into the future, into your body in the future. You take your own place in the future, experiencing that. And if that future doesn't occur, you do not black out because nothing takes your place beforehand. That last part is my prediction, not a known fact at this point."

"Proven or not… It sounds right." I decided. "So… How do you want to pass the time now?"

Caleb's eyes lit up in the way that literally means only one thing. "Would you indulge me in a game of chess?"

I smiled back at him. "Okay, Caleb." I agreed and watched him swiftly pull the board case off of his back and set it on the ground, hitting a spot on it and watched it fall open in front of us. Our pieces shone into existence like they always do.

He let me go first. So I did. Erza's piece (one of my knight pieces) leaped ahead of the pawn wall.

The pawn ahead of Caleb's queen advanced two spaces. I smiled. I was still his queen. As I watched, I started seeing the board move about in my mind's eye. Not because I could see the future, I couldn't. That happened when I was asleep. I was seeing it move about because I could **think** about what was happening on the board. I did this, Caleb would do this. Caleb did this, I would do this.

I realized that this must be how Caleb saw the entire world. A game of chess. Except he was even more advanced than I was. And he claimed on occasion that the way I saw the board was nowhere near my potential. He looked at the board and saw every single possibility and planned accordingly for the most likely scenario based on his knowledge of me as a person. Psychology and logic combined with chess skills.

Caleb won every game he plays because he took no chances and no prisoners, because he was a genius on any battlefield, including this one.

He smoked me, of course. At least, I thought so.

"Fantastic job, Sarah." He complimented me out of the blue as he let the board reset. "You are advancing in this game at quite the velocity."

"Thanks, Caleb," I said, careful not to be overcome by the surge of joy. No tackling Caleb. Not allowed. He smiled warmly once more and began to put his board away.

"Wait!" Shulk appeared next to us, having been watching from a distance. "Can we play?" He asked, and Kemuri looked at the board with interest.

Caleb smiled. "Certainly." He said, stepping back. Both of them, he knew, had knowledge of how to play chess. I stepped back as well and let them take their places on the board. Caleb and I sat on opposite sides of the board as well, so each side of the square had one of us sitting by it. I was feeling more confident because I had brutally shoved down the urge to sit next to Caleb.

This match turned out to be much closer. Considering Caleb had told everyone how to play chess that one time and they were beginners, to be honest. Both kids played for a while until Kemuri won by accident, though she was keen on celebrating and teasing Shulk good-naturedly.

Shulk huffed. "I'll beat you next time." He gave his word, pounding his chest with his paw.

"Dream on, Shulk!"

Caleb chuckled as the two tackled each other, playing around. "I believe that is our cue to depart." He decided, snapping the board shut and setting it back on his back. He then started walking away while I followed him.

I wondered where he was going, but he just walked into our room in the guild when we got there and laid down on his bed. "I had nothing else planned for today." He claimed. "Tomorrow, we will begin more in-depth work on different things. Today, we simply have to avoid Spinda's cafe."

"Okay." I didn't have much of a problem with staying in a room alone with Caleb for a third of a day. "Hey, can we keep playing chess for the day? I think the first step in thinking like you do is being able to challenge you in chess."

"It certainly would be a step in the right place," Caleb smiled, and brought his board out again. Most people are reached through the heart. Caleb is reached through his chess set, apparently.

So we played our games for hours and hours. I didn't mind losing. Caleb knew this, and he did not hold back at all. Every time I did just a little better as I learned the style he was using. Then he gave me the slip by doing something entirely different on the game right before bed, and wiped my board clean without much effort.

"Hhhhhow did you do that?" I asked.

"You have been teaching yourself to deal with my specific strategy. When I change strategies, you are helpless in the game." Caleb told me, closing his board. "You must be mindful of both the distant future and the immediate present in chess."

"Oh." I stared dumbly at the closed case as Caleb laid down on his bed.

"Get some sleep." He ordered. "We have a busy day tomorrow."

"...Okay."

 **Caleb's POV**

I would not have admitted it to Sarah, but in that third to last game she did something seemingly random that scared me when I looked at it up close. It became apparent that she had almost stumbled on a game-changing move by accident only, but that did not mean she was not getting closer to success.

I was happy to help, of course. Particularly now that she seemed to be acting far better today. Perhaps she was finally at a turning point and I could have more breathing room than I had ever had before in this world.

The kits jumping on me before I even registered the transition from reality to dream told me that I really was out of touch with stuff right now. I was feeling… Like… Like I couldn't explain it properly. I blearily opened my eyes to find my young counterpart's face directly in mine, which would have been an awful lot like looking in a mirror if he wasn't smaller, and his horn was on the left instead of the right, where it was supposed to be.

"Hey, you." I greeted him with a smile, planting my paws beneath his legs, my claws not in a position to hurt him, and lifted him above me. "Were you waiting for me?"

He squirmed and managed to get away, tumbling onto the bed with his laughter filling the room while Sarah's child counterpart appeared in front of me now. "Yep!" She exclaimed, grabbing me with her little jaws by the paw and trying to haul me out of my beloved dream bed. "C'mon!" She said through my fur, and my own child counterpart was soon pulling on my other foreleg, trying to get me off my back.

"Okay, alright, very well," I said, rolling to be able to sit up and look at them. "I'm up."

They sat in front of me with adorable eyes meeting mine easily. The adorable look at the silent question got to me quickly. "Look at me, I'm up!" I exclaimed, waiting for a verbal reaction from the kits. I didn't get one. This was not instincts making me act happy and more carefree than I needed to be. I honestly had no reason to be serious, and despite the fact that I **liked** being serious, because it gave me a good image in the eyes of others, making them more likely to treat me as a respected adult rather than just another child, I simply… Did not want to do so this time.

Nothing yet… Let's try… I chuckled and rubbed their heads with my paws, before moving and grabbing my child version and tossing him on my back, before grabbing Child Sarah by the scruff in my mouth and carried them out of the room, just like they wanted me too. "Getting lazy, are we?" I asked them. They exclaimed that no, they weren't. "Oh yeah? Why am I carrying you?" I asked.

"Because you're awesome!" They exclaimed together with great amusement evident in their tones.

I rolled my eyes. "Nothing compared to you two." I told them, creating an argument of 'no you're the greatest', like one might imagine between a child and their parental figure. They thought it was hilarious that I was talking through Child Sarah's scruff (and doing quite the fantastic job of it, if I do say so myself).

Riley awaited me on his armchair with his book in hand. "Hey." he greeted me, holding one hand up while holding the spine of the book in his other hand so that the book was open. "How goes everything?"

"Far, far better than I could have imagined," I replied, still talking through Child Sarah's scruff.

"Liar." Riley teased. "You always imagine things exactly as they'll happen. What on earth could **possibly** surprise you in a good way?"

"Yes." Amaterasu's drawl could be heard from an adjacent room. "Considering all of the surprises you get seem to be negative?"

"Hush, Amaterasu." I reprimanded her knowing she was relaxing on the rug near the fireplace. "Kids, I think my friend Amaterasu would like a visit from you two," I told them, sensing her perk up at hearing this and run for the nearest open window. "Kids, I think she wants to play tag, too!"

They got away from me and rushed to catch the wolf while I sat and started discussing things with Riley. How my day went, how their day went, etcetera.

"You find siccing the kits on Ammy way too fun," Riley told me.

"Excuse me while I wallow in shame," I responded drily. "I have a perfectly reasonable punishment for her attempts to degrade my lifestyle."

He frowned. "I think your lifestyle degrades itself." He told me point blank.

"Yes, but I can't sic the kids on you because you **like** that," I told him. "In all seriousness, however, I have little choice and we both know that, so it would be kind of you to take that into account. Amaterasu is simply easy to knock off of her pedestal when she is going to start seeming high and mighty."

"Keeping her down to earth." Riley nodded. "She tends to be wise, though. You really should listen to her when you can."

"I can and do." I pointed out.

"True," he said. "And I think we both know that Ammy adores the kids just as much as I do. They just tire her out. What was it your dad said about dogs?"

"It hardly applies to Amaterasu," I told him, eyes narrowing a bit.

"What was it?"

I sighed. "A tired dog is a good dog." I quoted. "That was about a family pet, not a sentient being with the power of the sun."

"Shut up and laugh at my joke."

"No."

Riley chuckled. "Fine, fine, you win." He surrendered.

"You bet I do." I looked out the window and watched the kids pounce repeatedly at Amaterasu, who smoothly avoided them to the best of her ability. I suddenly had a flashback to a time before. I thought about the day I had been attacked while asleep. That time, the kits had suddenly grown and been reduced to fighting machines until I mentally repaired the damage to the dream. Granted, the dream still seemed to be developing in a sense, meaning it should be far, far more stable nowadays, I had a flash of worry that if I got a head injury, it could cause these kits harm.

"You have that worried parent look," Riley commented, popping a pistachio in his mouth. "They're fine."

"I am aware of that…" I responded slowly. They were fine. They were playing, and enjoying life, and they would never, ever have to grow up. Children forever. I walked right through the wall to go and join the group as they played.

"Well, I'll find Sheila or something." Riley decided, seeing me leaving him alone. "Later."

I smiled at his back as he walked off, whistling, and turned and saw Amaterasu get knocked onto her back with the small absols climbing all over her. "Enjoying yourself?" I asked as I neared her.

She rolled onto her stomach as the kits happily tugged at her. "Do I look like I am enjoying this?" She asked, eyes narrowing.

"Yes," I said.

She blinked a few times at me, before yelping as one of the kids grabbed her tail. She stood quickly and barked out in pain, causing them to release her.

"Kids, no pulling Amaterasu's tail." I reprimanded them. "I can take that because my tail is a stiff, solid material and experience minimal pain from you pulling at it. Amaterasu would experience much more pain from a greater area."

"Yes, Caleb." They chorused. "We're sorry, Ammy."

She obviously tried to look stern, but **I** was incapable of not smiling at them. Amaterasu didn't have a chance. Her warm smile was directed at them. "Apology accepted." She told them. "Now, Why don't we take a trip to the lake?"

"Yeah!" The kits shouted with glee, running to that crystal teleporter item. I smiled at Amaterasu as I passed, heading for the crystal structure as well.

"I **draw** with my tail," Amaterasu grumbled as she walked on.

"You will be fine."

"If their teeth get any sharper I won't be." She grumbled.

"Quite protective of your tail, are you?"

"I'm going to draw those kids a vine trap."

"That's… Rather protective. You realize that hurting them validates instantaneous and severe punishment, yes?"

"That was… Rather casual"

"I am trying."

We reached the kids, who waited eagerly on the platform, calling to us to hurry up already and telling us we were walking slower than snails (how they knew what a snail was I do not know). But the kits taunting legitimately had me tempted to run at them with a playful growl. I blinked at the thought.

I really was beginning to deteriorate. Did I care?

No, actually. Somehow, I didn't care at all. I felt playful. I leaped at them with a light growl and watched them squeal and scatter, staying in the crystal structure. Then, they pounced on me with their squeals of delight that so felt like a reward for playing around. As Amaterasu stepped onto the platform, I activated the teleportation array to bring us to the island within the lake.

As we arrived, I casually pushed Child Me out of the way by his horn when he tried to tackle me and redirected the two in the general direction of the water, steering them towards the warm lake.

Amaterasu got her revenge by freezing everything ad then drenching us all in water. Warm water, thankfully. "Amaterasu…" I complained. "You know I'm rubbish at shaking the water out of my fur."

"The kids seem to enjoy it plenty." She pointed out as the kits raced each other to leap into the water, driving through the surface for a while and releasing a shock wave of water through the surface before they had to support themselves, splashing themselves and each other, swimming about.

I shook myself off as best as I could (which was not a perfect job) and, still dripping wet, proceeded to drench Amaterasu with my own control over the dream. Then, I generated a bunch of floating disks in the air that had air within them.

The kits saw them and perked up, treading water.

"Fifty discs," I called, aware that the number could, in fact, be divided in two. I then summoned a fence of sorts in the water, calculating what would look random but was not, based on where the energetic kids currently were and what I knew of their psyche. "Which of you can collect the most?"

I then mentally thrust the discs into the water in my calculated spots and watched them swim after the disks with a smile on my face.

As I calculated and planned, they each brought the disks to the shore one at a time into two piles, one pile for each of them. And as I had planned, both got their twenty-fifth disc into their pile at precisely the same time.

I smiled and ruffled their head furs while they seemed very happy with themselves. They were just fine with having a tie. They seemed to be glad for it, actually. I intended the result to be so, of course. They were quite equal in essentially every way. They looked so happy, sitting in front of me and panting.

How easy it was to get absorbed in their big eyes. Even more so when after Child Sarah walked over and started chattering in the typical little kid 'look what I did' fashion to Amaterasu. Because once the girl's back was turned, Child Me took a disk from his pile and slipped it into hers. "Sarah!" He called "I think we miscounted!"

 _Impressively done. That is the single smoothest thing I have ever seen a male do for a female. It makes me wonder once more how different the pair of absol are from me. No part of my personal psyche contains even the knowledge or reason to do that sort of thing, and yet the kit pulled it off flawlessly._

Child Sarah bounded over and started counting. "Hey! I won!" She shouted, and my younger version happily let her revel in her victory.

 _Her short term memory is a little off, considering she must have counted the amount of times she swam to shore._

"Adorable is certainly how to describe them," Amaterasu said as she watched.

"I have labeled them as adorable all this time," I replied as Child Sarah tackled Child Caleb and both kits rolled right into the water. "It has been the primary term in any analysis I make of them. Amaterasu… Is it odd for me to compliment beings who are supposedly based off of my own mind?"

"If they were anything like you, then perhaps it would be like complimenting yourself." She responded. "But you and I are both aware of how different they are. How special. Even I find myself following your lead often, affected by your mind, because I was generated by it. Riley is more free from compulsive effects than I am, likely because his creation was… Intentional. Sheila is along my lines, but not quite the same as me, and yet… These kids surpass all of us in complete sentience. They learn, they think, they are more intuitive than the rest of us."

 _She is aware that she, Riley, and Sheila are sentient creatures, but is also aware that due to their nature, their sentience is based on their connection to my mind, and are thus influenced to a degree. And she concludes that the kits are not actually directly connected to my mind in that way._

"That is where I become confused," I admitted, dragging Amaterasu's attention from the playing kits to me. "Here is what I am having trouble understanding: If the kits are separate from my mind and individual beings, perfectly sentient while not being influenced by my thoughts or state of mind… If they are not dream constructs…"

I turned to Amaterasu with a carefully flat look. "Then what are they?"

She looked back at the two playing pokemon quickly, and back to me. "Are you implying…" she trailed off, shaking her head.

"No. They are not dangerous, nor are they malignant. They are pure, innocent children who will never have to grow up." I shook my head as well. "However… Knowing their origins would help me understand them."

"You would have to have external tests done on your own mind, and we both know that such a thing could be very risky." Amaterasu pointed out.

"Which is why I would accept without hesitation not being able to learn. Knowledge can be wonderful, but in this case… Is it necessary?"

"I would say no."

"I would say no as well."

I smiled and approached the children again as they eagerly awaited me to join their impromptu game.

* * *

"Caleb?" Child Sarah asked, directed at me as I closed a book. The moon was rising. I would be waking soon to see the daylight of the real world.

"Yes, Sarah?" I asked.

"You keep using that one word when you read to us. 'Father', or when a kid talks, 'Dad.'" she said, "And they're usually talking about people who act just like you."

I nodded to her. "Yes. Father is typically a term used for a male who cares for the child within their family." I explained.

She shifted a bit. "In that story, the man asked the boy to call him 'dad' when they were talking." She ventured.

"Yes." I nodded to her.

"Why don't you do that?"

I blinked. "Er… Sarah? What precisely do you mean?"

"Why don't you ever ask us to call you dad?"

"I-I'm afraid I don't understand," I admitted, staring at the little girl.

"You do everything for us, including caring for us." She said a little quickly. "But you never asked us to call you 'dad'. Why's that?"

I grew very uncomfortable, looking away. "I…" I murmured. "That is a very hard question, Sarah."

"Why's that?" My child version asked me confusedly.

"I… I am not sure" I admitted. "It… Never crossed my mind before to ask. I have often thought of myself as a father figure in this sense, but…"

"Caleb, you're starting to fade again," Riley informed me. So I was. Time to wake up.

"Very well," I said, breaking away from the topic, or trying to. "You all have a good time, alright?"

The kids looked at each other, and I swore they communicated somehow., and then turned back to me as my vision began to fade. "Okay, dad!" They exclaimed.

I didn't get a chance to say 'hold it' before I was awake.

 **Shedinja's POV**

" _Good morning."_ " **Shedinja**." I greeted the umbreon as he grumbled and rolled off of his back. The blue ringed umbreon stood up and stretched after a minute of trying to keep his eyes open.

"I didn't choose the greatest spot to sleep." He muttered, looking at the grass. The landscape was visibly bumpy and solid, despite being on soft grass. Being on his back couldn't feel good now that he was awake.

" _I would give a lot to be able to sleep"_ **Shedinja**." I offered. " _Even if I have to wake up uncomfortable occasionally"_ " **Shedinja**."

"That's food for thought," Alger replied almost monotonously. He looked up at the mountains that surrounded us. "This place is pretty desolate." He commented. "Just a few mountains and stuff. And they look pretty desolate individually."

I didn't say anything. I was looking about the sky. "Should we continue on?" He asked.

" _Yes."_ " **Shedinja** ," I replied.

We moved on for a time. Passing by the mountain after a few hours of casual walking, we emerged in a small area of grasses under the looming mountain.

With a bare spot right in the middle. I recognized that circle of barren land. And I mentally flinched. " _Alger, do you remember the discovery of that weird extradimensional dungeon that my team found?"_ " **Shedinja**."

"Are you trying to tell me to avoid the torn apart ground over there?" He asked

I nodded. He saw it. But then he looked at the place and started walking right **towards** the horrific danger circle. I floated in front of him quickly, shaking my head as best as I could. " _No no no no no,"_ I said. " _You aren't seriously thinking about going_ _ **in**_ _there, are you!?"_ " **Shedinja**."

"I am. There's nothing else here." He claimed, walking around me and up to the barren circle of upturned earth. Was he nuts!? "It is a dungeon, after all." He continued as I found myself floating right into the area to follow him.

Almost immediately, the sky opened up in a dark portal with glowing lines running from the edges into it, and a pressure filled the air around us. Alger was stunned momentarily by the immediate reaction by the sky itself.

"Thought it would be more… Gradual." Alger muttered as the dirt surrounding the ring heaved and began spinning, trapping the umbreon and myself in the vortex. I looked right at Alger, trying to convey my words without directly thinking them as messages.

 _I blame you._

"What can I say?" He defended himself. "It's not like it's going to kill us."

And then the umbreon and a bunch of dust were instantly yanked into the sky, leaving me behind. Seems I was immune even to spacial nonsense like this. I was being left behind!

 _No, you don't! Get back here!_

I floated up into the hole in the sky as fast as I could to avoid losing the umbreon. What on earth compelled him to just get himself sucked into the sky by this thing? Sheer boredom? We wound up someplace totally different last time, and I didn't even mention it!

I made it into the dungeon, and discovered that this place looked **way** different. "I told you we'd be fine." The shiny umbreon told me as we looked around at the surroundings. We could see each other, hear each other, and everything looked tangible this time.

 **Daemyn's POV**

"Okay, get your head together" I muttered, pacing about my room. "You've got a few days. You can travel. One day out, one day in, a day in between to spend with them because you have to stop being an asshole."

"You've been doing good enough with that so far," Bastiodon told me from where he was resting in the dirt in our house. Seeing him up and awake this early was surprising enough, considering I doubted he would be doing anything.

"But **how** do I go about this? Just show up?" I asked, still talking to myself.

"Yep," Machoke told me immediately.

"Gah…" I muttered, lowering my head as I continued pacing. "Dad's gonna **kill** me."

He'd look me in the eye, narrow his eyes, and ask why I haven't visited. Mom's probably going to be super affectionate and embarrassing me. Dad would cuff me over the head with his paw sternly and figure out exactly why I hadn't visited at all in years. Then, he would probably do his best to crush me in a hug or something. I didn't know what he would do after he got his explanation, but it would not be unpleasant.

No, they'd be great to me. That was part of the problem. How do I, someone who has a past of not being a kind person all the time, who learned the wrong lessons, confront parents who will only be nice to me?

The guilt might break me down.

But I had to be going there. I had no excuse for not seeing my parents for years. Erza's idea was right. I had a responsibility. I had better damn well follow up. I straightened. "Alright, that's enough stalling." I decided, and lunged for my bag, tossing the harness over myself before I could stop myself and starting to tighten the straps.

"Hate these things…" I muttered as Machoke got up and traveled over to me, helping me tighten the strap by my hind legs that I couldn't properly reach. ""Thanks."

"Most efficient way." Bastiodon rumbled, "Because having a bag hanging over your shoulder can be annoying."

"Fair enough," I muttered, remembering before I discovered these harnesses. Having to readjust that stupid bag over and over again. I got everything together then. "Alright. If I try to come back, punch me."

"Will do." Machoke shrugged. I nodded and bolted out.

The sunshine was a welcome sight. Blinding and everything. I looked left and right, seeing people everywhere as they walked along paths, chatting. Because the town had grown to an incredible size to accommodate the people, and the paths being crowded, it was more like what Caleb had described as a large city in his world. Not precisely the same; he talked about towering buildings that speared the sky itself and even more people than this, but the way they walked and weaved around each other like some master embroider moving strings around…

I had all my stuff, so I walked straight out of town. I didn't see Jake or Jess or any of their team, so they were either asleep or having fun somewhere. I didn't know what my teammates were going to do. They might just hang out and sleep, the lazy buggers.

 _Not that I'm much better._

I mentally slapped myself. Family. Focus. Family. Why am I bad at this?

I set to walking down the path from the crossroads and starting to move into the stairs. One paw in front of the other, that's all that actually mattered. Getting the job done, and getting it done immediately. I was **built** for that kind of thing. Just get it done. Get it done.

Except it was way more complicated than that, right? That used to be how I did things, and then consequences and rewards became a factor. Then planning ahead and learning from mistakes began to happen. Caleb taught me these things, and now it was hard to do **anything** without being afraid of failure.

But, I realized, that fear allowed me to go in prepared. Caleb would look me in the eyes and tell me that fear is just as much of an important emotion as compassion, for in the end, fear is the instinctual side of us that tells us that we should not do something, and that is where one can grow. They grow because they either realize that fear is rational and avoid what they fear, or to realize that their fear is irrational and should be utterly crushed. He would tell me that fear the equivalent of a punching bag with spikes on it. Avoid the spikes, and you can beat it around as much as you want.

The spikes being rational, proper fears that are well-founded, of course.

I blinked. In the time I had thought those things, I had managed to find myself in the plains already. I figured I must have started running, which would have been ridiculous of course. I wasn't even paying attention. I must have actually managed to zone out for a long period of time right there.

I was also going the wrong direction. "Nope," I muttered to myself, turning to my left. "Home's **this** way, Daemyn."

Was talking to myself a reasonable thing to do? It certainly passed the time. It turned a trip from the plains to the forest into some degree of self-entertainment, but anybody listening to me would probably think I had gone completely insane. I looked left and right, and back. Nobody around me that I could see.

I blinked. Apparently, I had been walking for hours or something, because now I was at the forest. I was either a really slow thinker or falling asleep occasionally while walking, the latter option seeming way less likely. So I was thinking slower than I actually thought, or was just tiredly taking breaks between thoughts as I padded on without much thought.

I stepped through the treeline, seeing the pretty way that the sunlight filtered through the leaves and set the place aglow on the interior of the forest. Already there were more pokemon about than in the plains. These pokemon were not in the tournament at all, seemingly having elected to just stay in this forest and hang out and go about their business, separate from the shenanigans of the major town a few hours away.

I turned left again, unwilling to accidentally land in the dungeon of the forest I was in, and walked to where I knew my family was. This was going to be the hardest part, I thought.

Before I could even get there, I heard something with my sensitive ears. Close to me, very close, but extremely quiet. If I hadn't been a mightyena, I wouldn't have noticed a thing. I leaped to the side as the earth under me was crushed from above by a ruthless attack.

"The hell!?" I asked aloud, looking over… And up. Up at the **thing** that had attacked me, and I felt a very sudden chill. I began backing up, seeing the dark smoke and the glowing red eyes and the serrated edges…

The monster was bipedal. Barely. It stared at me with far too familiar eyes. I saw those eyes in my nightmares. "But we destroyed that energy…" I whispered as I watched the unidentified creature loom over me. "Sarah saved us, obliterating every last bit of that energy…"

But this creature… This was not anything that I had ever seen. It didn't even resemble a pokemon in the slightest. And that may have been because its body was slowly shifting. Its arms gaining and losing blades, as were its legs. It turned to me and let out a growl.

Or at least, I thought it did. But my ears are incredible. I knew instantly this was some form of illusion. If it had actually growled, my ears would have picked it up clearer than my mind was telling me that I was picking it up. Was it a zoroark?

No. I could not smell a zoroark. I had met Shade and I had been in close proximity to Skyfall once or twice. I knew what a zoroark generically smelled like, and knew how to differentiate between them. This was no zoroark, and yet… What else could create illusions?

And there was the ground to pay attention to. Illusionary growl or not, the beast had completely turned up the dirt under its arm as it tried to crush me. I put myself into a battle stance. I would not let this thing near me, illusion or not. But then I gasped. I got flashbacks. Myself crushing Sarah with my tails was the dominant memory that flooded my head. I flinched. I couldn't look at this thing without seeing what I had done.

My legs wouldn't move. My body was frozen, maybe paralyzed with fear. The analytical portion of my mind that had grown over the recent months was the only thing that was even working anymore. If I didn't have it, I'd bet I'd just stare at this thing incomprehensibly until it attacked.

Why? Because every time I tried to move I found memories of my own actions flashing through my mind. I thought about this, and looked at my paws. I ordered them to move. Rationally, I should move. Rationally, I should avoid getting crushed. My order went unheeded, and I knew now that my being frozen in place was not fear, but something external, but making me feel irrational fear as a shield.

Meaning that defeating my fear wasn't going to do me anything at all. I had to use sheer power to get out of this, I think. I focused dark type aura and ghost type aura together at the forefront of my skin, exuding power and attempting to use it to break free of what held me. My legs shifted. I was moving, slowly, but I was moving.

Then I looked up. I nearly did not roll out of the way fast enough to avoid being smashed into the ground by the arm strike, but with my body not cooperating, I was quickly slammed aside by the kick the beast sent my way. I slammed back first into a tree, my body still moving sluggishly. Holy hell, that had hurt!

I groaned as I landed in a sitting position, feeling like I was trying to move while buried in loose sand or something. That... **Thing** … stepped over to me slowly, and held it's leg above me with the obvious intent of crushing me flat. I tried to move again, but rolling from a sitting position used more than my leg muscles to do properly without just slamming my face into the dirt, and then I could not avoid the strike after that.

What a 'battle' this turned into. I was just trying to see my family, for gods sakes. I blinked. I was thinking far too calmly about this. I should have been screaming in rage and fear, attacking, but I wasn't. I felt pacified. I felt… Almost bored. What the hell was wrong with my head.

The beast began to bring it's foot down, and everything went black. I felt a tug and a pull to my right, and my body instantly became usable again as I was thrown through the sheer darkness until I found myself blinded by light once more.

I lay on my side near a tree, far from the monster. I scrambled to my paws, wondering what the hell had just happened to me. Panic and fear began to set in, as I felt whatever restrictions that had affected my body and mind fade away. I was a dark type! I shouldn't be feeling effects on my mind at all!

I looked about, seeing a shadowy figure with bright eyes behind me before it quickly dived into its shadow and sped away. So that person had pulled me out of there just in time. I looked back at the beast quickly, beginning to back up.

Then, I saw a dome of hexagons or something appear in my vision around the area I had been in. Hexagonal energy plates locking together in a form of a cage. Was that what I had fallen into? A magical trap? The hexagons flickered and began dying out, one by one, and the shadow beast within dissolved into nothingness finally.

I breathed out heavily. Someone's idea of a joke, no doubt. Make the trap appear when someone's in range, and then summon something they fear and lock their body and mind down so they get defeated. Then, I figured, they wake up from whatever nightmare they had while asleep before waking up in a panic.

I wasn't the biggest fan of whichever asshole was responsible for that little trap. I had things to do, though, so I couldn't dwell on the cruel prank. Way more important things to do. "Thanks, Darkrai." I thanked the shadow that had escaped, having been there when the guy had been given his own mission by Caleb. That had probably just been dumb luck. I wasn't going back into that cagey area at all. No way. There was magic nonsense going on in that place.

I turned and walked off, remembering the direction despite it having been years since the last time I was here. What was I going to when I got there? Why, wing it of course. As long as I ignore the fact that I don't have wings…

My parents would be downwind of me at this rate, meaning that they were going to smell me before I got there. They would have an advance warning if I didn't start being cleverer about this. I started my loop around the place, which would add maybe twenty minutes to my walk.

Until the damn wind direction flipped on me. Stupid wind.

So I turned back and spent fifteen more minutes going back around before I felt like I was in a good spot. Then I strode forward quickly and quietly. Breathe in, breathe out. Don't choke this away or anything.

I saw a hill with a push-open door. The Den. I missed The Den, to a degree, and I hadn't even realized it. I blinked. It seemed smaller. Because I had evolved. I was twice as tall as I had been before. I didn't have to put a lot of effort into pounding the door open with my skull, which my dad would always chuckle at as I rubbed my little head. I had been a little pup. Now, I just had to push with my paw to open it up. I stepped up to the door.

And I stopped for a while. Right in front of the door. I cringed. I didn't realize the door itself would be the hardest part. I held one paw up, and it quivered at the door entrance. Was I supposed to knock or just enter? I stared at the light brown wood.

And with a momentary flash, I remembered a similar wall. Pink, filled with energy. Caleb had stood before one just like I was. Paw up, ready to make contact and take the next step of life. Caleb was here. Caleb had chosen to stay. We had a good friend, a genius who could teach the world a lot. And yet… It had crushed him. He considered it a betrayal of his family. He still did consider it that.

Walking away from this door would be betrayal, further betrayal, and I would never forgive myself until I did it.

I nodded to myself. I was not going to do that to myself nor my family. Unlike Caleb, nothing good could come from this failure. It was about time I faced the music.

I smacked my paw against the door a few times, imagining in my mind what might have happened to Caleb when he touched it. Sucked into the moment, immediately finding himself in a situation where he would have to think quickly and plan ahead. I stood straight, realized I should be smiling and put a smile on my face, and tried to plan out the eventualities.

And as the door opened, I realized I had drawn a complete and utter blank on the 'planning' part. At least I had gone and smiled. It was my mother that had opened the door. There was an utter silence for many, many moments. I recognized her. So, so easily. I realized for just a moment that I was slightly bigger than my own mother already. I had been gone so long…

She stared at me. Well and truly stared. My heart wrenched at the sight. Why was doing something the right way for once so painful for me? It ate away at me as I slowly stopped analyzing the situation and started feeling more and more like a lost soul as I looked into her eyes.

Those eyes did not start off confused, surprised, or anything. They started off warm and kind, like they always were and probably always would be. I should have considered it a crime to do anything that she might think saddening. But I hadn't.

It occurred to me that this was even more similar to Caleb's eventuality over in that cave than I had thought. The only difference I could really see was that if I failed, there was the chance of having the choice again another time. And that entirely changed the equation, right? If I failed, if I did the wrong thing, I could bounce back and have a second chance I maybe didn't deserve.

But Caleb might tell me off for feeling bad about having more of a chance than he did. Pure circumstance, he would proclaim. And one cannot feel guilty about factors that they cannot control, because that will cause avoidable damage to someone who tries to feel guilty about such a thing.

She smiled at me and brought her paw up, rubbing me between my ears. I automatically tried to duck the gesture, as that felt odd to experience even now, but then I was pulled into the best hug she could manage. No words had been spoken yet. Her smell was so familiar, and it was shutting my brain down as I hugged her back with one paw. The other mightyena was murmuring so softly that even with my ears I could only catch the fact that she was talking, but not what she was saying.

"...Mother…" I murmured. "Is there anything I could possibly say?"

She didn't pull away from me at all. But she squeezed me tighter with her foreleg. "It's been so long." I continued. "And I've made a lot of mistakes and… I didn't spend my free time well. I… I did the wrong thing. A lot of wrong things, learned the wrong lessons…"

I sighed and rested my head on her shoulder. "Mother… Mom…"

I was going to say more, but she pulled away. She smiled at me. "Finally." She said. "I'm surprised it took you three tries to say 'mom'."

I stared at her, and she laughed before pulling me into another hug. "Oh, you've changed so much." She murmured.

"I evolved." I quipped.

"That's my son talking now." She nuzzled me and stepped back once more. "Deep down, you remember who you are."

I smiled back. "I guess so." I nodded. Then, I couldn't hold it anymore. She was acting way too casual. "I…" I slumped over a bit. "I've been terrible. To everyone."

My mother's face softened slightly.

"I've been mean to a lot of people, pushed people too hard, said bad things, every time I did something I went about it in a way that hurt other people, and it just got worse," I admitted. "And ultimately, I met my best friend in the whole world, and he fixed me up in a matter of days. **Days**." I shook my head "I've been so fragile and so… **Weak** that everything I had built myself up to be on false grounds was shattered from the words of one guy and the presence of one girl."

She continued smiling kindly as she listened to me begin to ramble. "I've… Well… I never visited, and… I can't tell you how much I regret that now." I told her. "Mom, I feel the need to explain myself. I have no real excuse other than I had… Just kind of forgotten about home entirely. Going into this… Messy attitude and not looking behind me. It was cruel, cruel of me to ignore both of you and go and do things, even after I graduated… I just didn't do anything I should have done. I did everything wrong."

I bought my head up despite feeling a weight on it. "And I kept getting worse until I finally insulted a certain budding team that is at the guild, insulting their shiny absol teammate, Sarah. For the dumbest reason, I insulted her, and then the other absol, Caleb, immediately blew up at me because after what happened to a friend of his ages back, the particular insult I gave set him off. He did enough to really jar me, and… He brought me back to reality in a way. He's my best friend, and probably the one person who could influence anybody. After that, after all of the things we went through, some that were truly terrifying… The tournament started and everything got busy again. Even as I was, the only reason I am here today is because another friend of mine really reminded me."

"So all I can say… It's so difficult." I muttered. That one single word. Difficult to say, difficult to even think. I could only just let it spill out of my mouth. I sensed I shouldn't Caleb's terminology. "But you deserve this. I'm… Sorry, mom. I'm so, so sorry."

Her smile never faded. "You never had to apologize." She told me. While I was left blinking, surprised, She gave me a lick on the cheek, like a kiss on a little boy's cheek. I almost leaned away as I always did when she tried to do that, as a pup. 'I'm way too old for that' left my mouth many times in my youth. "Never, ever." She continued. "You're here now."

"But… I **wasn't** …"

I stopped. This was exactly what had caused Caleb to go into a downward spiral, his failure to forgive himself for his mistakes. The thoughts swimming around my mind used to have my voice when they said 'how can I possibly be forgiven for this'.

Now I didn't know if that voice was mine or Caleb's. Maybe a bit of both.

So I stopped and nodded slowly, hating myself for feeling tears, freaking **tears** coming from my eyes, which never ever happened ever, no way. Mom forgave me for something I never thought anybody could forgive, until it clicked that we had literally forgiven Caleb for the same thing. Perhaps I thought it would be different considering that my family was the one I was talking to rather than my friends.

"I would have known you were leading a wonderful life wherever you were." Mom continued, looking me in the eyes.

I shook my head quickly. "Please, no." I intervened, feeling as if somebody was stabbing my heart repeatedly now. "I don't want any justification for what I did. Please." I shuddered, realizing that was exactly why Caleb was so resistant to our earlier attempts to help him move on, because we tried to justify it without outright telling him that we forgave him without all of that blather. Standing here right now, I understood my human friend far better than I ever could even if I had a month alone with him like the day a while back when we helped Darkrai. This wasn't pain that goes away. Not even if you fix it. It's always there, in your past, existing. Like a perfect beach that you decided to toss a sharp rock onto, and you couldn't walk along the beach without stepping on that rock at least once.

"Okay, honey." She agreed with a nod. I wondered if she understood the kind of feeling I had now. "Then let me simply say I forgive you."

I smiled and nuzzled her again. "Thank you," I whispered. Tears slipped from my eyes. My traitorous eyes. If I didn't need them, so help me… "Where is fath-... Dad?"

She laughed. "Is your friend one of the psychic types?" She asked, amused. "I never thought my adorable pup would be using such lengthy words. It's a melody to my ears."

I chuckled softly. "No… He was formerly a human, now an absol." I revealed, seeing her raise a brow. "And he retained his memories… He's an utter genius, and he has this effect on others. Speak to him for a while and you start talking like him. On an entirely related note, I did wind up with a nickname."

"Oh?"

"I left it up to Caleb to decide, and he nicknamed me 'Daemyn'." It was the equivalent of introducing myself.

"Daemyn. It suits you." Mom complimented me with that wonderful smile. How had I ever gone years without that smile around? "But you'll always be my adorable little puppy to me."

"I hated that nickname…" I muttered. She chuckled.

"Well, I can hardly let you get away without hearing it until I pass." She told me lightheartedly, rubbing me on the head once more. "As for your father…"

"Who is right here." A second mightyena dropped his faint attack that had gone undetected and seemed to materialize behind me, scaring me half to death. As if I needed another scare. I spun around just in time to get smothered in another hug from my father, who I had assumed would be more pissed at me than Mom. "Who also heard everything." He revealed, "And I've proven I can still hide from your excellent nose while I'm at it."

"Nah, I was just focusing on other things." I cuffed him playfully on the shoulder, as I would do as a pup because I couldn't reach his face when I was young. He smirked, probably remembering the many days that I would try to take him down, as most kids do when they play. Like most kids, I had essentially only succeeded at clambering on him a bunch without being able to move him, but I had been a little more stubborn than most. "But… I thought Mom would kind of act like she is right now, but I thought you'd be mad as hell…"

"Nah, I'm perfectly sane." He cuffed me back with a cheeky grin. I blinked once, twice, and then I got it. I chuckled at his joke then, attempting to pull myself together.

"I almost didn't make it." I admitted "I got trapped in some magic cage trap a ways away, and I almost got knocked out during it. Shut my body and panic instinct down and made this monster thing try to crush me."

"Huh." dad said, "Normally people make up excuses if they **don't** wind up making it."

"Hey!" I cuffed him on the shoulder again.

"When you were a pup you were so easily startled." Mom mused. "It's been so long. You've grown from the absolutely adorable little puppy you were."

I balked. "Uh, let's not discuss my 'adorableness'." I decided. My mother and father flashed smirks at each other and they turned back to me.

"Aw, but you really were small and adorable when you were small." Mom said cheerfully. I flattened my ears and backed up.

"Definitely." Dad grinned "Headbutting things more than a bagon would… You used to be quite the little rascal. You rammed things, tried to knock around Shieldon a lot because you couldn't, everything the spastic puppy you were would do."

"Dad, hang on."

"And you liked to stand on that boulder five minutes away and let the breeze blow through your fur. You imagined that everybody beneath you were smiling at you because you were impressive, ignoring the coos of just about every parent." Mom continued.

I cowered before them.

"Absolutely adorable," Dad confirmed. "Ah, good times."

I dropped to my belly and covered my eyes with my paws. "Worst. Punishment. Ever." I groaned.

" **I** don't think so."

I froze. Mom and dad didn't react in any way, so they had probably already noticed her, and I hadn't noticed. I hadn't noticed because I was all in tears and crap, but I knew that voice very, very well.

"Dammit…" I muttered. "I hate you.."

"Naw, you don't." Erza imitated my dad's way of speaking, patting me on the back. She turned to face my parents. "Hi. Name's Erza. One of Daemyn's friends."

I glared at her.

"If I still count as a friend after this." She muttered almost carelessly. "But as Daemyn's friend, I have every reason to ask you to give me as much information as possible about how **adorable** Daemyn was." She smirked at me.

My parents smiled. "We'd love to talk to one of Daemyn's friends." My mother said with a bright smile. The faker. My dad was more forthcoming with his true intent.

He grinned just like I typically do. "Blackmail material." He said with an amused tone "Integral to any good friendship."

"If I just die of embarrassment here, would anybody notice?" I asked.

"Don't do that." Erza muttered, "I can't use this against you if you aren't there."

I groaned.

Erza continued smirking. "So." she said conversationally "While he continues to try and fade out of existence, let's start with something that'll really make him squirm for starters."

I let my head hit the dirt.

* * *

 **Shedinja's POV**

" _Not a fan of your choices."_ " **Shedinja**."

"This place isn't like the place you described at all," Alger commented once more. I'm pretty sure if I still had eyes, one of them would be twitching.

" _Seriously. You threw us into a dungeon that we know next to nothing about because Caleb didn't do any analyzing, this one works completely differently, and it looks like some weird mashup of the crystal cave and this white rock. And you keep shivering."_ " **Shedinja**."

"Yeah, I do." Alger gazed ahead as he walked along this hallway. "No pokemon yet." He commented. He stopped and looked at the pink and blue glowing crystals along the walls with a thoughtful expression. He brought his paw over to one that was about at his eye level, and I saw his rings dim for a moment before he touched it.

" _Don't-"_ " **Shedinja**."

 **Tsss!**

Alger yelped and brought his paw back, which was smoking. He stared at his smoking paw with a bewildered expression, but I had seen that before. Amber's sylveon form had the pixelate ability, so her body had a fairy aura, and when she grabbed Caleb in her ribbons, he had started smoking at the skin as well. " _Congratulations."_ I thought drily " _You've dragged us into a dungeon swimming with fairy type energy."_ " **Shedinja**."

"Welp." Alger nodded. "You didn't happen to see an exit when we popped in, did you?"

I looked at him.

"Thought not." He muttered. "Well, let's go see what this place has in store. You're immune to fairy aura, right?"

" _Right."_ " **Shedinja**."

"So…"

" _Yes, I'll act as your shield."_ " **Shedinja**."

We moved on, until we came across a tiny little pokemon floating around the corner on a flower. "Never seen one of those pokemon before " Alger commented. Then, a second one came around the corner. "Look, he's got a friend." Alger continued with a smile.

I backed up a full meter. Alger balked.

"Er… How many of these guys are there?"

More and more started floating past the corner in a horde. I shifted in front of the shiny umbreon. There were like twenty of them. Now there were twenty-five. Now there were thirty-two.

"Uh… Should we be running?" Alger asked.

More and more were coming around this corner. I nodded quickly and started backing up with my body between Alger and the mass of floating pokemon that I hadn't identified. Yet. Dozens of magical leaf attacks appeared. Lots of moonblasts appeared too. "They're floating in like the fluff from those cotton plants or something." Alger muttered "Way too many of them. Waaayy too many of them."

The attacks launched in unison, the leaves locking on to me and the moonblasts blasting straight at me. The explosion effect roared around Alger as I protected him. "Run," Alger said, and we both beat a path right back where we came from and around the corner.

"I don't like getting swarmed by fairies," Alger muttered after we had safely outfun the horde and had slowed to a walking pace.

" _I'm fine, I think."_ " **Shedinja** ," I commented, a little miffed that we were here in the first place.

"It was almost if that group of fairies was a patrol or something." Alger muttered "Like… I don't know."

" _That's a random thought."_ " **Shedinja**."

"I know." Alger agreed. "Maybe the aura filling the air is making me lightheaded. Fairy energy everywhere. It's hard to focus with it."

" _Just don't do something like walk away from me."_ " **Shedinja** "

"Got it."

We continued moving. Alger's assessment of patrols, however out of the blue such a suggestion was, considering patrols were rare to use in any sense, seemed accurate after sprinting away from another horde of fairies traveling through the area. We kept moving with me blocking the super powerful bombardments of fairy attacks and magical leaves.

"It's not a maze." Alger realized suddenly, stopping cold. He looked down the hall to the right. "We were walking in a circle for a while, and we found a few paths that crossed… It's way more organized than that."

I looked at him. " _Then what do we do?"_ " **Shedinja** ," I asked.

"We figure out what kind of structure it is." He said, forging a path to his right as we kept going through the dungeon. He frowned at the intersection and turned left. He shook his head to clear it of the fairy energy filling the air even more. "Ugh… It's hard to think in this place."

" _Just stay near me."_ " **Shedinja**."

"Got it."

We traveled forward, and came upon a set of stairs. But that wasn't the normal type of stairs. Or rather, that's exactly what they were. Normal. Not dungeon stairs. The hallway actually went up a level and the walls seemed to shift in design to something a bit less scatterbrained and crystally.

I led the shiny umbreon up the stairs, and he winced. "There's even more fairy aura around here." He commented. Great. As if there wasn't already enough ways to make the guy I was with have more trouble. The flower riding swarms were just the beginning, I feared.

I hate being right.

I really, really hate it. It's awful, being right, because when I'm right, it's usually about stuff like this. Stuff like swiveling around a delirious umbreon and blocking attacks from many directions as we forged our way upwards. Ultimately, we realized one thing. This place was an actual castle. From the fairy dungeons up to the more glorious and fancy places, the energy just got stronger and stronger, and at this point, Alger was wobbling in place when he stood still. It was bad.

The halls were pure white with golden archways now. Powerful fairy types at every turn. Each of them probably would have one-shot my delirious friend, and I was getting a serious workout. Well, no I wasn't. I wasn't getting physically tired in the slightest.

I guess the real issue had to do with the fact that I didn't know how much longer Alger was going to remain on the conscious side of things.

Getting to each floor had been pretty easy because we were thinking about it like a building. To discover where the stairs most likely were.

But this floor wasn't giving us anything. As far as I could tell, the floor had a dead end center room. Having checked the perimeter, I decided that if this room did not contain the staircase, then the exit itself was likely se where downstairs, hidden away. Or there wasn't an exit. The Lightning Core dungeon hadn't been so forgiving.

But this was clearly like the lightning core dungeon, so… Fairy Core, I assume the name would be.

I floated into the center room, Alger leaning on my shell the room was star one place where it was dark except for an illuminated straight path and a circular stone right in the center…

On the stone was a scythe.

The scythe had a black, straight snaith, with two small spikes on each side near the end of it. A short, curving blade could be found on the other end of the snaith. A glowing blue shield like metal seemed to connect the blade to the snaith. Just above the shield marking, on the actual blade, there is the same metal with the shape of a crescent moon stamped into the blade itself. The sharpened edge of the blade was a deep shade of glowing blue, when rest of the blade is raven black. Finally, there was a blue band of metal stamped into the near end of the blade, much like an umbreon's ring,  
" _Looks like a reward if I've ever seen one."_ " **Shedinja** ," I said. I looked at the object next to it. A dazzling light came from the item. It looked like a mess of rings interlocking together in multiple places, some floating, some limp. Most of the rings were star-shaped, though a few were triangles. The star shapes ranged from four pointed to six pointed- no wait, that biggest one was a twelve point star.

The mess of open shapes interlocking strangely drew me in, as if it was important. Alger blearily nodded and picked the odd ring cluster up, putting it in his bag. Then, he put his paw on the scythe.

I **felt** something shift, which alerted me immediately. Before I could say a word, the scythe lifted itself into the air and began spinning around Alger. It glowed with a dark blue color and thrust itself at the umbreon. I thought he was going to get hurt.

The blade instead contorted into a dark blue energy sphere and struck the delirious umbreon in the chest. Alger jolted, and straightened for a moment, his eyes shining with the same color before he seemed to lose it and halfway shut down again.

I moved over to him, asking questions about what happened, but then the lights turned on. I looked up and around.

 _Oh. Oh dear._

Row after row, stone after stone, stood hundreds of fairy types lying in wait. Surrounding us from everywhere but directly down, charging attacks. There were even some attacks I knew would hurt me. They bought their heads up, their attacks chafing even further, and I spared one look at Alger, knowing he was about to be blown up and I couldn't do anything to stop it.

 _Oh… Son of a-_

The fairy types fired. Everything seemed to slow down, and I did what I should have done on pure instinct. I slammed into Alger and dragged both of us into my shadow. The detonation was immense, but Alger's shout of pain sounded much louder. I dragged us out of the room and bought Alger out of the shadow only for him to collapse with burns on him that looked kind of like the burns a will-o-wisp.

Inwardly, I flinched. Maybe I should have practiced taking others into my shadow properly before doing it in the field. To be fair, I hadn't realized I could until just now in the moment.

I hurriedly checked the room again, thinking we would be followed, but the room had gone back to how it was before with a single exception: the circular stone in the center had been obliterated, replaced by a dark pit that looked much like the one that had pulled us up in the first place. I got it. Spring the trap, and if you somehow manage to stay conscious, it'll just give you the exit. I mentally sighed as I realized we were just about done here.

I looked back at Alger, who seemed to be feeling a little better. He looked up at me, more clarity back in his eyes.

...His eyes had deep blue streaks in them; almost a third of each eye had that blue color from the lines of blue coming from his pupil to the edge of his irises. The same blue from the scythe's glow when it had been absorbed by the umbreon.

" _You don't feel too different, do you?"_ I asked worriedly " **Shedinja**."

"A bit…" Alger muttered "Just a bit. Thanks for the save."

" _Er… No problem."_ " **Shedinja**."

Alger walked alongside me up to the hole, where the energy of the place seemed to be streaming downwards. "Well, I think that's our exit," Alger muttered.

" _Here. Balance on top of me and I'll take you down there. That way wherever it drops us, we'll be able to safely float down."_ I offered " **Shedinja**."

He blinked but did as I asked, unsteadily balancing on my back as I turned myself downwards, and we gently floated down the hole in the ground.

As I suspected, we opened up into the sky again, just like last time. I wasn't anxious for more shenanigans involving clouds, because last time had been an utter mess.

There was a random mountain below us, so I floated down towards it. It took me five minutes to do it at a pace that Alger could stay on top of me for, but we managed, and Alger had fully recovered by the time we reached the peak. The sun was going down, making for a fantastic sunset.

"Well, I think I'm actually going to sleep tonight. I doubt I have the energy to stare at the moon, even." Alger muttered, lying down.

I nodded in confirmation. I had to gather my thoughts myself.

"The scythe's kind of… in me or something. I'm not entirely certain what happened" Algar said as if unsure "If you want this cluster of rings and stars, they're all yours."

" _Thanks."_ I nodded " _They seem too random to actually be random anyways."_ " **Shedinja**."

"Your genius friend can probably figure it out."

" _That's who's going to see it first."_ " **Shedinja**."

 **Erza's POV**

"You're kidding." I saw in awe and amazement. "How on earth did he manage that?"

"Well, he wouldn't say anything other than something about being awesome, so we never really knew." Daemyn's dad said.

I was leaned back against a root from a tree within Daemyn's family's house. Daemyn himself was trying to hide as best as he could, wincing every time I asked a question. It almost made me feel bad for him, but his parents seemed to like me. They happily told me as many embarrassing stories about him as I could possibly ask for.

It turns out that Daemyn was the **definition** of 'little rascal' when he was an 'adorable little puppy'. I was dying to collapse from laughter, but I stayed determined and dug up as much blackmail materi— **cough** —interesting information that I could find.

And holy cow, these two had a lot of embarrassing dirt on the guy. Daemyn's mother sat near her son, rubbing his head comfortingly with her paw while his dad seemed content with having a form of revenge that could still be friendly and kind.

I leaned back twenty minutes later. "You guys managed to run my questions **dry**." I muttered, "That **never** happens."

Daemyn's eyes promised revenge, but I knew I was going to be just fine.

"Now, now." Daemyn's mother spoke up, eyeing her son. "Obviously, this was for amusement. Only amusement."

Her look changed into something extremely similar, but sent chills down my spine.

"You use it to hurt my kid…" his father started

"And there is going to be a problem." His mother finished with a sweet tone. "Understand?"

I shivered. "Crystal clear." I nodded quickly. No blackmail, no jokes, nothing. I wasn't scared one bit of Daemyn, but the sweet smile his mother had told me that if I did anything as a joke that might hurt Daemyn, I'd be freaking **toast**.

I blinked. I hadn't even really thought those plans through anyhow… I often bashed others around, although that in itself was in the spirit and fun, but I guess my mind was just set on making the wrong decision regarding what I **say** , and Daemyn's parents had seen it coming a mile away. They were okay with embarrassing their son, but they were not okay with actually hurting him.

"Good." they said in unison, still sounding nice.

Daemyn uncovered his ears and slowly stood up. "Is the humiliation over?" He asked weakly. His dad grinned at him.

"Yeah," he said, approaching his son. "But even if we spent the whole evening embarrassing you, I think it's about time we spend time with you." He laughed "Gotta fulfill every parental requirement, right?"

"I wouldn't know anything about parental requirements," Daemyn said, still a little miffed.

"Honey, I think we went a little overboard." Daemyn's mom realized with a somewhat sheepish look on her face. "Would it help if I said sorry, Daemyn?"

"A little." He muttered in return. "I mean, it's easier to forgive because I completely deserved some kind of punishment, but to Erza of all people, well, she already whacks me over the head when I do something silly. I would have had a lot more hanging over my head if you hadn't done the creepy smile thing."

He stepped forward and gave his mother a hug. "I know you guys are just as confused about what to do as I am." He said slowly "And I guess that's what I should have expected. It's not possible to just seamlessly come back together. You guys haven't changed at all, but… I have. I don't know what to do, what to say, what to think. I just walked up and hoped for the best."

I sat back again, covering my eyes. Dammit, I was an **awful** friend. I should be ashamed of myself. I **was** ashamed of myself. I did this. I caused Daemyn to have this terrible time, when I could have suggested the same thing and told him to take a day or so to think about it. I could have not been a terrible person myself and avoided doing this just to have some amusement at crashing the party.

The conversation awkwardly continued in the room while I kept my eyes closed. I really should just sneak out or something. If I was going to fix this, I couldn't fix it here. Groaning so softly a mightyena's ears couldn't pick it up, I silently stood and started moving over to Daemyn.

"Hey," I said as I approached, having waited for a break in conversation. Daemyn turned to me, and I recognized something in his eyes. His eyes always held a certain energy to them, someone who could take anything and dish out just as much, though he rarely actually retaliated. Some of that energy was gone. Just… Gone. Which part, I was unsure.

"Yeah?"

"Look, you… Deserve my apologies." I said honestly, looking away. I expected some form of quip about my flail, considering my word choice.

He waited, sitting down.

"I'd gotten used to strongarming humor out of things, and I didn't think at all like a friend. I could have been kind and suggested going to your parents' place without some ridiculous plan to make an amusing scene."

Silence. I winced.

"I-I mean…" I trailed off, looking into his eyes, wondering if I had just straight up crushed our friendship, or my sorry excuse for a friendship. I shivered. I recognized the look in his eyes now.

That was **Caleb's** look.

It was brighter, still full of energy, but way more like Caleb. That sense of reality that shone in Caleb's eyes. That sense of understanding of the world. Daemyn didn't look like that often, at least, not when I was looking. I was aware that at some point, everybody who's met Caleb eventually acts or thinks like him at some point. Rationality.

I shivered because his eyes told me that he was not thinking in terms of whether we were friends or not anymore, because his focus was on something entirely different that just happened to have something to do with friendship.

"Can I trust you?" He asked shortly.

I flinched. That question was incredibly general. It was the short version of 'are you going to do anything like this again or can I trust you to be kind and act like the friend you hope to be?' And it hit me like my own flail.

He shouldn't have trusted me. I manipulated him for laughs, I've pandered to other people and their laughter when I smacked people around for being irritating or having their fights. I've made way too many mistakes with him. He was hurt, and he seemed to have just decided that I was either going to clean up my act or shut up. It was that stare that led me to the only answer I could reasonably give.

I straightened and looked him in the eyes. "From this point forward." I promised, "You can."

He relaxed. "Good," he said, some of the light appearing in his eyes again. Only some.

He looked way stronger the way he loomed over me. This was a version of Daemyn that would protect himself the next time I took a crack at him, either in the tournament or in any attempt at what is clearly poor humor. I sighed in defeat. "I guess I should go," I said, walking over to the door.

"Erza." Daemyn barked shortly. I turned, surprised at his tone. Then his expression softened. "It's getting dark. You should stay for the night." He instructed. Then he smiled. An actual smile in my direction. "Pretty sure grass types are supposed to stay warm as much as possible to be healthy or some such nonsense." He continued, gesturing to the fire in the chimney of sorts.

"Uh…" I muttered, dumbfounded.

"You really have grown up a lot." Daemyn's mother commented.

I stood still as the three descended into a much more sensible conversation. Lying down by the fire, smiling and talking to one another… Daemyn looked right at home now. The guy seemed far calmer quickly. And I thought, for just a moment, that he had intended for some of this to happen to get me to apologize, but I mentally smacked myself. Caleb might be that clever and do that, but only if he really needed to. Daemyn wasn't like that. He was calmer because he believed me.

My head sunk a bit. Despite my attempts to remain in a cheerful mood a lot of the time, the thought: " _I don't deserve it"_ ran rampant in my mind. And then…

 _That's… Exactly what Caleb thought when we acted nice to him whenever he talked about his failure. His failure was more important to him than forgiveness, and that is why it should_ _ **not**_ _be that way for me. I need to accept it, otherwise, I'll fall._

It saddened me now that it was Caleb's failures that we learned from, and yet we couldn't teach it to Caleb directly. It felt like we were feeding off of him or something. We couldn't help him, but we were helping ourselves, and despite the fact that it was just hanging around him that caused it, it still didn't feel good at all. An unfixable problem.

That was supposed to be nonexistent in this world.

But my bad thoughts aside, the conversation was really entertaining now. An actual conversation that everyone seemed to care about and was important, and had humor to back it up. Hours I listened to it as practically every detail of their lives were exchanged, and I realized something.

It's an honor to be allowed to be there to witness it.

* * *

 **Alright. That's the chapter out. I got sidetracked with the first chapters of Silent and Absol Lhant, two new stories that will probably be updated at fewer times than the main three stories at this point. The first is a RWBY story, and the latter is a Pokemon/Tales of Graces story. But enough about those right now. Right now, I would like to know what you guys and gals thought about this chapter. Please review and stuff while I take a nap. Hooray for doing important schoolwork stuffs after this.**

 **But in all seriousness, school's going to start weighing down on me eventually, as it is the third trimester and calculus continues to be a thing. I said to review already... Oh! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Have a nice day, everyone.**


	20. Chapter Twenty

**Hooray! More TAC! Not much to say here other than to answer reviews.**

 **Jango: Let's do this.**

 **Me: By the way, are we safe right now?**

 **Jango: Haha, we've got people supporting potential ships here. Wulfyre, Super Mystery Dungeon's kind of in the air. Nah, not really. We just have to decide on timeline stuff.**

 **Me: That wasn't a yes, Jango.**

 **Jango: Well, West, if that little form shift was painful, it wasn't what I put in there. Now I'm wondering who's going to be the actual victim of my little joke. Hehe... That's going to be fun to discover.**

 **Amber: Yeah... Shedinja's dealing with a bit.**

 **Jango: Uh, no. Darkrai didn't use magic. Daemyn suspects the trap he fell into was created using magic. Darkrai used a shadow sneak to escape it. The monster was a part of the trap.**

 **Me: As sorry as I am that that wasn't clear, Jango, tell me whether we're safe from Frost or not?**

 **Jango: aaaanyways, Raven, the possibilities for Sarah's issue had basically been boiled down to 'she's nuts' or 'she's under an enchantment'. I would have preferred the former, of course, that would be far more entertaining. As for Daemyn, he just tends to be inattentive enough to zone out until his surroundings significantly change.**

 **Me: Calculus class is directly preceded by precalculus, Phillip Harbindinger.**

 **Jango: Projectiles? I didn't launch any projectiles at Frost. My pranks are way more subtle than that unless they're on the defensive side of things. Amber?**

 **Amber: I noticed Frost at one point and warded her off so she didn't hit any of our traps. So yes, Hyper, we're safe.**

 **Me: Finally, an answer.**

 **Amber: If Angelica did something, she's obviously around. She'll probably keep anybody from being permanently injured with a reality check or something. I wasn't even aware that she used chemicals in stuff. Normally, she just snaps her fingers, or does potions, or... Anything else.**

 **Jango: I doubt Angelica was even involved. Anyways, Amber's going to keep us safe. Angelica wouldn't need to steal anything.**

 **Me: We've established that we're safe from everything other than Angelica, who Amber couldn't ward off if she put enough energy into her attack to vaporize things, and even then... She wouldn't stay away.**

 **Amber: ...Can we move on? Every time we use her name, I'm afraid that we're going to make her show up. Anyways, Rocketiermaster, usually cat-like and fox-like younger ones are typically referred to as 'kits' instead of kids.**

 **Me: Fully intentional.**

 **Amber: Yeah, Caleb was incredibly influential in our lives for a long time. His presence basically changed everything and led to everything, and we learned a lot of what to do and what not to do from him.**

 **Jango: Oh, hey Nerdy Retard. Interesting thing-**

 **Me: I'll take this one. Nerdy, I understand your viewpoint on the different POV choices, but you are also mistaken. I am not doing this because Erza and Daemyn got less time before. I am doing this because what they are doing is inherently more interesting than what the characters whose POVs were doing. I focus the POVs on the characters that are doing plot advancing things to avoid useless filler as much as I can. This ultimately results in the readers remaining interested in what is happening.**

 **As for your suggestion of distributing POV time evenly, that goes along with my first point. And with that idea in use, there will be uninteresting things, AKA filler, in parts of my chapter, AND I would have to either use less words to describe things that may need more words to consolidate POVs, or make the chapters much longer, and I want to keep within the comfortable range I have managed. Sorry, Nerdy Retard, but I cannot really mess with the POV system I have right now for any overall positive effect.**

 **That all being said, read on, and hope that nothing unfourtunate happens to us with a winged girl potentially after Jango's head. Good day.**

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty: Puzzles**

 **Caleb's POV**

"Pardon me, but have you seen Daemyn or Erza?" I asked.

Jake paused and thought for a bit, tapping his foot. "Nope." he replied eventually "I've been spending a lot of time with Jess."

I raised a brow. "Indeed?" I asked. His face got redder instantly, confirming my suspicions. "As much as I would like to hear more…"

"I don't know where Daemyn and Erza could be." He changed the topic, shrugging. Jess hopped up to him, as he hadn't followed her for a while. "Swampert's probably slowly making his way back from the Dark Crater, though. He likes traveling slowly when he can."

"Yes…" I trailed off, looking down the path. "I am certain that all three of them are in good condition."

. "I don't know why you wouldn't be," Jake muttered.

I said nothing, looking away. Sarah met my eyes as a direct consequence, and she gave me a smile. She kept shaking herself lately, and I was aware that her adoration seemed to have been induced artificially. Magically, that is. Irritating, but easily discounted due to its origins.

Jess spoke up. "Anyways, they've still got time before they have to be here for the start of the second portion of the tournament." She reasoned.

"So those two can do their own thing if they want to." Sarah agreed. "Hey, Caleb. What do we have to do today?"

"I have two speeches to make, one intended for the guildmasters, one intended for the general public" I responded, "Later down the line, I am going to be far busier."

"How much later?"Jake wanted to know.

"When I begin the inventing process to technologically move forward in this world, I will likely have work to do all day every day to ensure the continuing stability of society while it happens. I predict that inventing process to begin at some point in the next year or so, but it will not become as busy as I predict until roughly ten to eleven years, when I have to work night and day to keep society stabilized among the new technological element being added." I explained.

"Why would it destabilize?" Sarah asked.

I sighed. "Because we are sentient creatures." I said, turning away "It's practically a guarantee. It was stable in this world so far because everything's been exactly the same. I am changing that; therefore, I am responsible for the potential repercussions, and I must plan for their eventuality and deter them across the world. I will likely start traveling more and more."

"Then… Why not leave it as it is instead?" Jess asked me. I had thought of this and prepared a response earlier. "Because I am already changing the world simply by having knowledge of the human world. People already clamor to know more about it, which leads to them wanting many of the things that I describe and do not give negative connotations for."

"They first want to hear your story…" Sarah murmured "And when they hear it, they want what they hear about because it's impressive."

"Precisely, Sarah." I nodded "Thank you."

She beamed. Jake seemed slightly confused, but he nodded anyhow.

Sarah felt the need to change the topic. "I am **super** interested in how your **date** went." She teased Jake. I cleared out immediately, not actually wanting to hear the raichu stutter and mumble and not actually give any proper information at all.

Jess laughed behind me. "Your friend's not comfortable with that sort of thing, huh?" She asked Jake.

And then I was out of earshot. I had things I needed to do right now.

* * *

"Hello, Ninetales." I greeted the queen.

"Ah, Caleb. I had wondered when you would come." She said warmly, turning to me.

"I admit to have approached at more of a leisurely pace than I normally do." I nodded, sitting down. "If I may, I wished to know something regarding the second round of the tournament?"

"You know I can't give you everything." Ninetales reminded me.

"Of course." I nodded, looking away. "Not the position of the treasures as you call them, or where you guildmasters intend to be. No, I was simply going to inquire about your personal interpretation of it."

"Ah. You want to know the point."

"Unity is important." I proved that I did understand the point "However, my question is more along the lines of how well you believe the contestants will use strategy and stealth to overcome the challenge."

"I see." The queen nodded in understanding. "Well, most teams that are young and inexperienced show little attempts to strategize usually. Although if I may say so, with your presence and the things everybody's seen you do, the number of people who will strategize properly, even among the younger folks, will probably spike."

"This portion of the tournament seemed to me to be a portion that was not entirely determined by strength, but in stealth and strategy, but the older teams with that experience are the ones that are already powerful enough to potentially be victorious." I mused. "I can only hope that you are correct about that spike of strategy and effort, as I will admit that having my opponents be predictable will provide no challenge in any way for me, and my friends seem to believe that taking part in the game is good for me."

"It is good for you," Ninetales said, waving her paw a bit in a gesture. "Now, Caleb, if this was going to be a social conversation, why did you present it as something formal?" She asked, a touch of a teasing tone added to her voice.

"Because that is what I am comfortable with," I answered immediately.

"Now, we may follow along the same lines in that regard, but you must learn how to socialize properly. It may make things easier for you in the future." Ninetales said.

"Would you provide me with an example?"

"Some degree of excitement tends to make people more open to you. Literally, some degree of excitement whatsoever." Ninetales ventured, alluding to my overall attitude. "You could use a less formal tone, or bring an air of humor with quips and jokes, entertaining or teasing friends."

"...Teasing." I repeated. My brow quirked slightly at the thought. Ninetales met my eyes and seemed to jolt back as I reckoned they had gleamed with a potentially evil thought. "Say, have you seen Daemyn recently?"

She leaned away from me. Just slightly, barely perceptible.

I smiled. "I reckoned he would have seen you before he left yesterday, all things considered. I am a personal witness to Daemyn and you starting to unconsciously sit closer to each other by marginal amounts during the tournament, giving weight to my argument. In addition to that…"

Ninetales now seemed to be slightly uncomfortable

"I have had ample time to observe the interactions between the two of you, including the facial expressions that you make towards each other. Despite the fact that the both of you have muzzles rather than the more… flat faces of a human, the looks you give each other subconsciously while speaking with one another are quite clear." I continued cheerfully.

Ninetales had surpassed a lack of comfort to show a sort of horror that comes when one realizes they have made a dreadful mistake.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he approached you more often over time." I went on, intentionally putting an **extremely** uncharacteristic smile on my face. "Or if you approached him more often over time. I can envision it now."

She actually stepped back.

"Considering the look on your face, he didn't happen to pop up before he left. Maybe he just didn't see you on his way out." I did the equivalent of a shrug. "Erza disappeared at the same time, so I bet she **followed** him, and there are few reasons I can imagine, one of them being… Hmm…"

I looked back at the queen, letting the smile fall into more of a smirk. She stared at me, stunned and I dropped the smirk as well. "Was that satisfactory?" I asked disarmingly.

"You…" Ninetales murmured "Are one incredibly manipulative absol."

"I certainly make the effort." I agreed bluntly "Despite my 'teasing', I have noticed these things. I only truly exaggerated during my allusion to Erza's motives, which were certainly geared much closer to teasing Daemyn herself."

"It is incredible." Ninetales ventured "That you can be a friend to someone and manipulative at the same time. I used to think such things contradictory."

"...I apologize." I said "At this point, it is second nature to me to convince others in the way I do things. Unfortunately, at this point, to achieve my goals in life, I will need to maintain a strategy I am inherently comfortable with."

"Thank you." Ninetales seemed to fully recover. "...Do you really believe Daemyn will approach me?"

"Eventually." I nodded. "If it doesn't work too well, be sure to be polite about it."

"No danger of that." Ninetales nodded quickly. "Before you leave, now may be a good time to renew your curse."

I smiled for real now. "Thank you. I appreciate it." I responded.

"And Caleb?"

"Yes, Ninetales?"

The fox brushed her tail on my head, renewing the curse. "Please don't do that again. You looked and sounded utterly evil."

"Duly noted." I nodded "This is why I do not joke around."

"That is not what I meant-..." Ninetales cut herself off. she looked away. "I understand your hesitance, truly, I do."

"And there I must disagree." I refuted softly. "I am a human with an extreme knowledge and understanding of most educational topics as well as a healthy reserve of common sense. I was raised in a world where things made sense, where everything obeyed the laws of physics, where the laws of conservation of mass mattered, etcetera. And… I currently and forevermore live on a planet where those things are not always true."

Her gaze was sympathetic as I told her: "Ultimately, it is impossible for anyone other than myself to properly grasp how that feels, as I am the only one who experiences it."

"You could talk about it." Ninetales offered. I blinked, surprised and confused.

"Pardon?"

"Please, explain to me what it feels like." She elaborated.

I frowned, but began to humor her. "The feeling is the sense that no matter what I accomplish, I have failed. I would succeed if my theories and knowledge would give me a one hundred percent success rate in those fields. That is not possible in this world. Therefore, I will lose. The understanding that despite the fact that the entire world is far simpler and easier to get things accomplished than my world, it will always, always be more difficult for me. Whether I succeed or fail in one sense, I always, always fail in another sense. There is a sense of reservation, as I could not possibly lose more than I lost the day I decided to stay in this world rather than go home. Others are defined by their successes. I am defined by my failures."

Ninetales was silent, staring at me.

"Do you know what it means to truly lose?" I asked.

"...No, I suppose that I do not." Ninetales murmured "At the very least, not in the sense that you are likely to present it. Please."

"A loss that one can never recover from for the rest of their life. A loss that tells someone who they are deep down, because that loss will always be there. Irreparable, always in the back of their mind." I looked her in the eye, my stare becoming fierce. "It was a selfish decision to stay in this world rather than to return to my own, because this place seemed better, and I could not force myself through. My conscious, reasonable sense was defeated by a selfish core I was unaware of until that time. A pitiful choice to make, when my family depended on me. I attempt to make decisions for my present and future whilst disregarding that at my friends' request, but this, I will never truly recover from, even if I as a person may never make the mistake again."

I looked away. "A defeat so great that the guilt will never fade. That is how one truly loses." I finished, silencing myself promptly.

Ninetales' lip curled downwards in a frown. "Do you regret staying in this world?" she asked.

"Yes."

She flinched but asked her next question anyhow. "Are you happy here?"

"Yes."

She blinked. "You regret staying, and yet you are happy? I do not understand." she murmured.

"It was a mistake to stay, a betrayal of everything I once knew and loved, but this world is nice, and free of war. I can regret staying and still like it here." I explained "Fresh air, blue skies, beautiful landscape, wondrous people. It is an incredible, wonderful world with impressive societal stability. I am… Content here. That is why I wish to make the distinction that my being content has nothing to do with whether or not staying was a mistake, or a betrayal."

The pokemon seemed as if gravity was affecting her more than usual. "I… See." she murmured "I fear I have no way to console you as a friend in any way more than what your friends have already done."

"When it comes to stories…" I murmured "It is best to simply listen." I looked her in the eyes. "I appreciate you taking the time, truly. I may do what I can to put emotions below logic and reason, but there is no possible way for me to avoid this feeling of… Warmth."

She had obviously not prepared for this conversation to happen in the first place. I bowed respectfully and turned to go. "Wait." she ordered, giving me pause "Please tell me, how do you do these things? How do you have every conversation nowadays as if the others are reading from your script?"

I looked back at her somberly. "As you said yourself: I am 'one incredibly manipulative absol'. I analyze the psyche of others and choose my words to have the highest probability of steering the conversation and getting my message across with each individual."

"May I ask why you do **that**?"

I sighed. "I am an absol that was previously human. Ultimately, I retained my memory and knowledge of human technology. These people wanted to know as much as I would tell them about the human world, and I could hardly have kept everything secret, because that tends to weigh on me over time and I had no faith I would be left alone regarding it if I kept secrets. When pokemon inevitably discovered some of the things that humans could have without requiring the ability to have magic, they would start to want those things, which I would then have to begin either providing, or manipulating my way out of."

I shook my head. "I have to be extremely careful with the rest of my life. I have to have most of it planned out second by second, because if I do not manage it perfectly, my very existence in this world could easily and **quickly** destabilize it. Society is going to advance technologically in a very drastic manner within my lifetime, and if I am not careful, it won't **end** around the time I die, which I should make certain happens. Part of my world's instability is that all across the globe, humans try to outdo each other and ultimately, they make weapons. It's how wars happen, and I will not allow it."

I looked her in the eye. "I do this all day every day because if I don't, there is very real danger in the eventual future. I will be surprised if I have a total of twenty hours of free time a year, disregarding the amount of time I will be sleeping."

"You can't be serious." Ninetales suddenly barked "Have you ever heard of asking friends for help?"

"It is a risk," I countered. "As the one who personally has the required knowledge, the success rate that I am likely to have doing this myself is very high compared to if I drop a job on a friend. And I, as I have made abundantly clear, am in the business of making the probabilities of success as high as possible."

"What kind of percentage drop are you talking about?" She demanded sort of desperately, alluding to my asking my friends for assistance.

"We are 'talking about', at this point in time, nearly a seventy-five percent chance of something going wrong were I to put anyone else in a position of responsibility in this project," I explained bluntly. "And I cannot allow that. It is true that over the years, that number may shrink gradually, but even with that number's depreciation, I estimate that by the time it is worth the risk to give some of my workload to people I trust who would perhaps be knowledgeable enough at that point, I may be between eighty and ninety years old."

Ninetales sat there, stunned. She didn't openly question the statistics I gave her, likely because of the flat look I was giving her. "...Pokemon are social creatures, working together, living together…" she murmured after approximately ten seconds. "Are humans not the same?"

"Humans are very much the same," I said, honestly feeling a little insulted. "Which, I suppose, speaks volumes for how **alive** I am."

Ninetales flinched. "I did not intend it that way." She murmured.

"I am aware of that," I said softly. "I might have been harsher if you had. Regardless, there is little any person could possibly do for me that would make my job easier other than not hindering me in the first place."

"As a queen, I intend to search for a way to let you accomplish what you must without sacrificing everything, as you seem to be intent on doing," Ninetales told me. "Despite how little my position seems to mean in the face of your power with words."

"I do not make exceptions for someone simply because they are in a position of power." I said simply "Power and status is irrelevant to me in every sense."

"I am first and foremost a guildmaster, and put my duties as a queen in when there honestly have to be decisions made for my entire land, which is admittedly rare," Ninetales said. "And as guildmaster, it is my duty to promote equality among those within my guild and work towards the best future possible. I can respect your view of status… And its irrelevancy."

I just nodded.

"Hey." Sarah stepped up next to me, greeting the both of us at once. "What'cha talking about?"

It broke the mood rather quickly. Ninetales smiled at my much nicer and easier to talk to companion. "Hello, Sarah." She replied. "How have you been?"

"I'm… Alright." Sarah said, her voice quieting a bit. "Hey, I thought of something after I walked away from Jake and Jess back there. Goldeneye couldn't detect any sort of spell on me, but I wondered if you could see if you could sense it? I mean, curses are different from regular magic, right?"

Ninetales blinked and looked at me questioningly.

"Considering many recent events revolving around Sarah, particularly concerning her… Intense connection to me, Sarah became suspicious and asked Goldeneye the delphox to check her for any spells that may have been cast on her to make her act in such a way. Goldeneye agreed that how Sarah described it seemed unnatural, and yet could find no spell." I provided, gesturing to Sarah.

"Ah." Ninetales understood "I can make the effort." She spread her tails around Sarah and made contact. Sarah shivered, likely feeling the effects of the power Ninetales held as the queen checked for enchantments. "When I attempt to find the source of your attachment to Caleb, my magic does not inform me of any enchantment on you." She said quietly "However, there is a… Pressure, on my magic. When I try to access your emotions, a force rejects it with complete ease."

"The equivalent of a solid object that blocks magic?" Sarah asked. Ninetales nodded.

"It gives weight to our theory," I said.

"Yeah…" Sarah murmured. "That's… I don't know what to think of that."

"Can you try to work around this… Pressure?" I asked.

"I just did." Ninetales took a step back. "Not a dent. Whatever is holding your emotions in lockdown is immensely powerful, considering that a curse typically ignores normal enchantments when affecting things."

"Unfortunate," I replied.

"I will have to fight it until it wears off…" Sarah murmured. "If it ever does…"

"There is one thing that is a severe weakness for mental magic." Ninetales ventured. Both of us looked at her expectantly very quickly. "Typically, those involving a fantasy or changed memories will be shocked out of commission if the mind is presented with the exact opposite. If Sarah's artificial fantasy is to have Caleb's unconditional and complete love, Caleb would have to—genuinely, mind you—express an immense hatred and disgust towards you."

Sarah stilled, as did I. Psychologically, that was actually a logical conclusion. Delusions can be easily shattered by the opposite information, unless denial becomes a factor. But Ninetales was talking about indisputable proof. Sarah was quite intelligent in most cases, even having surprised me in chess once, despite still losing by a large margin anyway.

"I have to express a… Genuine… Hatred of Sarah." I repeated. The queen gave me a grim nod. "That is preposterous. In no way do I hate Sarah, and I do not know if I can now, knowing the cause behind what she does."

Sarah turned to me, her eyes sparkling. My words had short-circuited any analytical skills she had for a while, obviously. "You really mean that, Caleb?" She asked with a high degree of excitement.

"You knew this already," I responded matter of factly. She flinched and seemed to shut that excitement down after a moment.

"I-I'm sorry, Caleb." She muttered.

"It's quite all right," I assured her. "In all likelihood, not an ounce of the blame belongs to you whatsoever. I simply intend to remind you when you start acting out."

"...Okay."

I thanked the queen for her time and we left. I would have some time before I had to make my speeches, so we departed, walking along the path with little clear destination. I reckoned that Shedinja would be back today, if at all possible.

"Caleb?" Sarah asked. I turned to her. "Um… If a genuine show of hatred would have broken the spell, why didn't it break in the dream?"

I let my head sink somewhat, recalling that day. "It was genuine hatred, but it was not towards you," I replied softly. "I was enraged at myself, mostly, and I was searching for something, anything to blame. You were easy enough to blame, but that rage was not honestly directed at you. I feel that is why the spell did not break then."

"Oh." Sarah looked down as well. She likely understood that I was feeling an immense amount of guilt right now. She was excellent at discerning emotions, along with all of the other things she was excellent at.

"It was relevant," I assured. "Ah, let us turn back. Alger and Shedinja approach from the north."

Both Sarah and I swiveled as I commented upon the sense my absol abilities gave me. Constant vigilance on my part allows me to be prepared for nearly everything.

"Quite the coincidence that you two would be within range of my senses when you returned," I commented as I rounded the corner. Shedinja had something… Odd… Draped over him, like he was carrying it without arms.

Alger, I noticed instantly, had the color blue added to his yellow eyes in streaks. "Were you afflicted with anything dangerous?" I asked him.

"No, I don't think so," Alger replied. "A scythe turned into energy and got absorbed into my body, but it hasn't hurt me at all so far."

I met his eyes with a stare that easily conveyed 'a foreign element entered your body of its own volition and you are not the least bit concerned?' And he blinked.

" **Shedinja** ," Shedinja said.

It was my turn to blink. Shedinja had just given me an entire overview of the whole situation. "Knowing that one of those cores was there, knowing what they do, **not** knowing what element it was for, **not** knowing where you would wind up afterward, **not** questioning a random weapon that moved on its **own** and jumped into you, physically altering you?" I asked incredulously. "And… That." I looked at the thing on Shedinja's body, draped over him like a glowing collection of stars. "An object with literally no explanation? Why would you even find dark weapons in a fairy specific dungeon?"

"That's the gist of it." Alger agreed.

My eye twitched a bit.

Shedinja moved over to me. " **Shedinja**." He said, asking for me to take the item from him. It was almost like a chain, but the links were rings and star shapes with all manners of points. It glowed in numerous colors, and exuded a dark aura as well. The predominant color was blue, much like the blue that Alger's eyes now bore along with the yellow.

I did, resting it on the ground and spreading the rings out. They were linked together in an entirely unorthodox manner, almost as if someone went to make chain mail but were not aware that the links should be uniform in size and shape. The rings and stars were under one another, on top of one another, spreading out madly. One of the rings was far greater in size than the others, directly in the center. About a foot and a half in diameter, that star shaped ring had the most points of all of them, which was twenty.

The center ring had to have a purpose. I set my paw within it on the floor, closing my eyes and analyzing the energy that the set of rings held.

"What are you doing?" I heard Alger ask.

"He's probably doing something genius-y" Sarah supplied with a teasing tone. "Seriously, though, he's probably figuring out what it does as we speak."

The energy the thing gave off was swirling around this ring, even within the other rings, but the center of the big ring was completely devoid of energy. I frowned and added some dark energy, which as a dark type is universally available in my body, into the mix. I got nothing. No reaction. I frowned. The dark energy seemed to be shifting inwards slightly towards my paw.

I recognized why that must be, and nodded silently. I emitted ghostly energy from my paw, and the item immediately reacted. Why it hadn't done so for Shedinja just by proxy I did not understand, because it could have done considering the immediate reaction that the dark energy had. It flooded the ghost type energy that I left behind as I stepped back, opening my eyes. The energy became visible, blue and black power flowing through the item as the dark energy turned the ghostly energy into an odd core of sorts. Then, everything equalized and the object floated to about my eye level.

The clearly magical item's rings started floating and spreading out into a more three-dimensional representation of the randomly interlocked rings and stars, the center ring remaining in the center as the structure floated in front of me.

"Wow." Sarah said "It's got a really pretty glow. What do you think it is, Caleb?"

I brought a paw up to the main ring, and pulled on one of the star's points. It twisted easily, the points not large enough to be impeded by the rings. I turned it three times, and then that ring turned from black to blue, matching the ring that the point was on. I frowned. "This is either a toy, or... " I ventured, and turned the main ring too far intentionally. Suddenly, almost like it was on a computer screen that was glitching out, the item flickered and instantly reset itself. "It's a puzzle," I concluded.

"A puzzle," Alger repeated.

"An immensely challenging one at that." I realized "Seven rings connect to the main ring. The objective seems to be to make every ring blue… Or black. I do not know which."

" **Shedinja**." Shedinja intoned.

"I can solve a lot of things. If you want me to. It is your item after all." He bobbed up and down before I could finish, almost. "...Very well." I said, a smile reaching my face.

I did enjoy puzzles so very much.

 **Daemyn's POV**

" **Dad** did that!?"

"Whoa, honey, let's not turn the topic to **me** now."

" **Dad** did that!" I exclaimed, laughing hysterically. "That's amazing!"

My dad was looking horrified while my mother was laughing along with me. This had occurred directly after dad had admitted that he didn't have any dirt on mom at all, but it turns out she has some great stories about **him**.

"Isn't this a repeat of what happened when I barged in?" Erza asked me. I shot a smirk at her.

"No, no, it's **entirely** different." I refuted "I'm the kid. I'm supposed to hear stories about the ridiculous things my parents do and laugh at them. They're the parents; they have a moral obligation not to make me miserable."

"Good to know," Erza replied drily.

"I think it would be a great opportunity to see you in action during the third round of the tournament." My mother changed the topic. "Although I do not know how we will be able to watch you through the second round."

I thought about it for just a moment. "I bet Caleb could come up with something." I decided "I could ask him when I get back. He can't do magic, so he would have to collaborate with a magic user of some description, but still."

"An invention on the fly?" my dad asked. I smiled and nodded.

"Yeah."

"This Caleb seems very influential." mom said, "Extremely so."

"He is." I nodded "He has a knack for turning people's' lives around, and he is a very good friend to have as well. And… Well, both his successes and mistakes have been really relevant to my own issues lately. I learn what to do and what not to do just by recognizing what Caleb has and has not done, though sometimes what he does is an example of what not to do. He's not perfect, obviously. Perfect is impossible."

"But he fixes and deals with things so easily," Erza added. "Except for… His personal problems. We're trying to help with that."

"He sounds like a very interesting person." My father mused.

"Guy's a genius," I said simply.

We had started to run out of things to actually discuss, and considering it was nearing mid-morning and having eaten breakfast, it might be a good idea to get back. However, with multiple days of break time left, I didn't want to go anywhere right now.

My parent's however, seemed to make a decision on the spot. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to stick around Treasure Town for a while." Mom decided with a smile on her face. I blinked in surprise.

"You're… Coming back with us?" I asked. "N-not that that's a problem at all!"

"Of course. I want to see Bastiodon and Machoke." Dad explained "We haven't seen Bastiodon since he was a shieldon instead. I also want more opportunities to talk to my son."

"Living the peaceful life here with essentially no incident whatsoever means we have had little chance to meet anyone particularly different." Mom continued. "This Caleb person along with the rest of your friends sound very nice. I would like to meet them as well."

I stared. "Okay. Where exactly are you guys going to live? I mean, you could live with us if you needed to."

"I think you've slashed his brainpower," Erza commented, causing me to glare at her.

"Indeed." Dad laughed. "Well, let's get going then. You seemed anxious enough to bolt out the door soon enough anyways."

"...Okay."

* * *

It was six hours later that I walked up to Shedinja. "Hey." I greeted cheerfully, wondering where Caleb and Sarah happened to be. Or anybody else for that matter.

" **Shedinja**." He replied.

"Mom, dad, this is Shedinja. Shedinja, these two are my mother and father."

" **Shedinja**."

"Very nice to meet you." Mom said, looking a little confused.

"He can't speak since he evolved," Erza explained. "But if you aren't really paying attention, it's easy enough to get the message anyways on a subconscious level. It's a little sad, because to understand what he's saying properly you have to kind of half ignore him."

"I… See." Mom muttered. We had told her this earlier, but she had not been prepared to actually meet him. Perhaps if this whole thing was less impromptu, it would have been easier to handle for everybody.

"Where are Caleb and Sarah?' I asked.

" **Shedinja**."

"...Isn't he usually **doing** things?"

" **Shedinja**."

"What on earth? What the heck kind of puzzle stumps **Caleb**!?"

Shedinja chose to travel off in a direction instead of answering, and we followed without complaint. I **had** to see this. "I've never seen him stumped by anything." I commented, "Whatever puzzle he managed to get his paws on, I'd probably be unable to get it even started."

Erza tapped me on the shoulder. "Look alive. Gallade looks upset." She muttered. I did look, seeing the pokemon muttering to himself as he walked. He did look pretty frustrated, and he shot a glare straight at me.

"Wonder what he's mad at **me** for." I wondered. My parents, I saw, were frowning in his direction as well. "Mom, dad, I don't think he's going to be a problem right now. You can chill." I continued, realizing they were probably going to ask. "I'll figure that out later."

"If you say so." Dad responded flatly "But if you do need our help, don't hesitate to ask."

"Noted," I responded as we reentered the crossroads, watching Shedinja turn right to float towards the guild. "I bet we're going to meet Sarah next, all things considered. Bit of a rivalry, as Caleb calls it, between Sarah and I. Don't be too worried if she breathes fire on me."

"You have a very interesting group of friends." Mom commented with a smile, seeming totally sincere.

" **Shedinja**." Shedinja intoned, floating up and down to nod.

We walked up and into the guild. "Y'know, every time I start thinking, I seriously lose track of time." I complained, "I got to thinking about stuff when I was coming to visit you and before I knew it I was pretty much at the forest."

"So absentminded." Erza shook her head with a smirk.

We walked up the set of stairs and walked up to the grate. My parents had to identify themselves at the entrance to the guild, which somehow failed to startle them in any way. Diglett had a habit of scaring people when they first showed up at the place.

Sarah had apparently heard from Diglett that we had shown up, because she was waiting for us on the floor with the job boards. "Hey." she greeted me, stepping forward.

"Hey, Sarah," I grinned. "I'm back."

She nodded at me, and I wondered how the heck she had managed to tear herself from Caleb at any point. She was getting more self-control, obviously. "Caleb's stressing a bit." she told us "Its 'cause this puzzle thing's taking him more than six hours to solve."

"Well, then." Erza muttered, "Let's go see him."

We walked over and climbed down the next ladder, headed to Caleb's room. Sarah turned to us as we walked through the hallways with the guild member rooms in them. "Caleb got his speeches done, taking breaks to instruct anybody who was going to listen on some basic strategies that may come into play. He had a ton of people there, and he encouraged the people there to share the information with people who had not come to listen. The games are going to be a lot more interesting now that people have a basic education in strategy. Very, very basic, but it's there even for the new teams now."

"That was nice of him." mom commented.

"He also had a meeting with the guildmasters about something. Not sure what, because I was kind of… Staring at him more than listening to him, couldn't help myself, but any of the times in between those he's been trying to work on this puzzle, and about an hour ago he suddenly got very frustrated."

"About what?" Erza asked, brow raised.

"His explanation was really complicated, so I'll let him tell you," she said. "Who're the mightyena mates?"

"This is my mother and father." I introduced them to her. Sarah looked between them and me, startled.

"Huh." she said.

Sarah knocked on the door with the pad of her paw. "Caleb? Daemyn and Erza came back. Daemyn's got his parents with him." she continued in a mutter "For whatever 's totally out of the blue."

"Come in." was his short reply. I met my parents' eyes, gauging their reactions to him so far. The door wasn't even open yet and my dad's brow was quirked at the tone Caleb was using.

Sarah pushed the door open and walked in, the lot of us traveling in her wake. I raised my own brows. Caleb had this floating star and ring thing that was slowly revolving. Caleb was standing by it, rotating the odd thing and spinning the rings. Occasionally, one would flash.

Then he scowled as he reached a certain point and spun one six pointed star and suddenly everything seemed to… Flicker and distort before resetting itself. "Curses," he growled.

"That one spot's really messing with you, huh?" Sarah asked. "That's the third time."

"The rules changed," he said in a disapproving tone. Then, he stepped around the item and into full view. He stepped straight up to my parents and gave the both of them an analytical stare. "Hello." he finally greeted them formally "My name is Caleb. May I inquire as to your names?"

They stared at him for a bit, obviously thinking something along the lines of 'so that's why our son uses big words now'. Then, they looked at each other. "I suppose we never bothered with nicknames." mom said "Because we can identify each other by smell and even the sounds of our pawsteps. We never really needed to."

"I see." Caleb nodded. "You bear resemblance to Daemyn, that is for certain."

"Thank you." Mom said with a cheery smile on her face.

"Yeah," Dad responded with slightly less tact.

"You are quite welcome." Caleb nodded. "May I ask why you have come to visit me?"

"Because you're our friend, you thickheaded genius," Erza replied cheerfully, wrapping her arm around Caleb's shoulders. How she's gotten right next to him without anybody, including Caleb, noticing was beyond me. "Not to mention this bloke's parents wanted to meet his friends." she gestured to me.

Caleb blinked. "I see." he said again, a little blankly. As if he **still** didn't know how friendship worked.

"What did you mean, 'the rules changed'?" my dad asked curiously, looking at the funny puzzle thing.

Caleb's eyes brightened a bit as he swiveled and walked up to it. "This puzzle seems to have different rules for success in different sections. As far as I understand it through my various tests of the puzzle, it has eight sectors in which the rules have varying degrees of rules and degrees of difficulty. They are not perfectly specified with the interlocking pieces, of course, and making the rules work together is exceedingly difficult. In this sector…" he gestured to an area of the puzzle by circling his claw around it "Requires me to match up the colors to themselves. However, this sector next to it requires me to do the exact opposite. What this means is that none of the rings that link the two sectors should ever be moved."

"How far are you through it?" my dad asked.

"Irritatingly enough, after many hours of working at it, I am merely approximately an eighth of the way through this puzzle, and it will continue to be difficult. I have not even isolated some of the boundaries, considering how complicated this mess is." Caleb explained, "It is truly a challenge, and an exhilarating one."

" **Shedinja**."

"Yes, that is why I have thanked Shedinja for giving it to me several times over," Caleb announced in response to Shedinja's statement.

" **Shedinja**."

"You traversed a dungeon filled with fairy types surrounded by fairy energy with a **dark** type by your side and succeeded, before gifting your prize for such a grueling task to me without hesitation. Shedinja, I can hardly label that as 'nothing'." Caleb told the ghost type quickly, drawing away from the puzzle and sitting down.

My dad looked away from the puzzle and his stare bore straight into Caleb's. "So you're a human," he said.

"Previously," Caleb replied shortly.

"And you retained memories." my dad continued.

"Indeed." Caleb nodded.

"...I want to ask a question." dad said "...If I had one."

"If you do wish to approach me with a question…" Caleb assured my father "I will be available to answer."

"Are you sure he's eighteen only?" dad asked me. I rubbed my head with my paw sheepishly. Caleb twitched.

"Apologies, Daemyn…" he murmured. "Perhaps I am acting too formal?"

"As long as you are acting like yourself, we're fine." I denied quickly, not wanting to become the honorary citizen of guilt town right now. "Seriously, Caleb. Pretty certain he was being humorous anyways."

He looked surprised at my outburst, but nodded silently.

"I just thought of something…" Erza muttered out of the blue, changing the topic. "If I stop whacking everybody when they do weird stuff, how many times is Daemyn going to get burned?"

"Perhaps daily." Caleb muttered drily "May I ask how this transpired?"

"I… Kind of got a wake-up call," Erza muttered. "Funny as it is, whacking people around really isn't the nicest thing I could do."

"Am I now allowed to use the word 'apologize', then?" Caleb asked with a raised brow. Erza stopped and looked at him, her own brow raising.

"I do **that** because you apologize **constantly**." she returned. "And… Yeah. Just try not to do it so much. It'll start to actually annoy people eventually."

"If there is anything you know about me, it is that if I find something to be my responsibility, or fault, I will do what I can to make amends. If apologizing is how to do that, then I will." Caleb said in response.

I laughed. "Good luck getting him to change," I told her jovially. She glanced at me and back to Caleb. Now the two of us were looking rather awkward as the armored absol turned for a moment and spun one of the rings of his puzzle. "Did you all need something else?" Caleb asked, "I have few topics of my own to bring up."

"The armor is self-explanatory, if a bit of an odd fashion choice." dad commented.

"I woke up with it," Caleb explained. "When Sarah awoke me in the crystal community. I fell asleep as a human in my world, where pokemon are nonexistent, not so much as a concept at all, and I woke up as an absol, with armor and in a world where humans used to be just myths before other friends of mine came along, which they did before I myself did. I have no explanation for this armor."

"Huh," Dad said. "And the case thing on your back?"

Caleb pulled his chess board off of his back, set it down, and let it fall open to the ground. "An enchanted chess board," he explained. "While extravagant, the basics of its functions do not differ from any other chess board. I keep it around due to it being a favorite pastime of mine."

"Chess, huh? How do you play?" mom asked, moving closer.

Caleb immediately launched into a mind-numbing explanation about the game, going into far more detail than he ever had to. He had begun smiling now that he was doing what he did best; giving instructions and advice and sharing knowledge.

My parents, however, discovered that this was one step away from literally talking their ears off. And being mightyena, we **needed** those. So, after about twenty minutes, with them starting to zone out and me feeling as though they had had enough, I cleared my throat.

Caleb looked at me, slightly startled now. I nodded to my parents, who were blinking and staring at the board that Caleb had set down. "Ah." he realized. "Perhaps you all need to go back and get some sunlight, to reawaken you." I noticed he totally avoided apologizing this one time. "I had best go to the waterfall room and relax alone for a time. It may clear my head further to help with the puzzle."

"Sure thing, Caleb. Come on, mom, dad." I decided, smiling as I led the others out. However, something caused my ears to flick.

"Should I go with them?" Sarah asked.

Caleb frowned. "I know you want to stay with me, but I would greatly appreciate if you went with them. I do prefer privacy in times like these."

"What are we actually going to do, Caleb?" Sarah asked out of the blue. I felt like we might not be really qualified to listen in on this, but we were their friends. We had an obligation to listen and understand our friends.

"I am afraid we caused quite an issue when we discovered what the magic would be broken by." Caleb responded gravely "because now that you are aware, it will not be possible for me to attempt to trick you to think I hated you thoroughly and thus break the spell. Many of the potential loopholes are now gone as a direct consequence. Thus, we now have to make tests. And I am sorry, Sarah, but the only test I can administer with the belief that we might succeed at this time is to do the equivalent of tiring the spell out."

"...You mean we both make me keep my distance from you until the spell just can't do it anymore and experiences a collapse?" Sarah asked. "Caleb… I don't know if I am strong enough for that."

"Right now, I have not come up with any other plans because I have no more information." Caleb murmured "And if Ninetales is to be believed, then I have my doubts that we will find any other information. We are doing experiments to find a loophole on our own, and I have to be honest with you Sarah, I cannot promise to provide good results. We simply have to… Keep trying."

"Instead of letting me love you?" Sarah burst out, and then winced. "Gah… Sorry, Caleb."

"Instead of letting you love me." Caleb agreed. "You showing physical affection to me seems to be what feeds and placates the enchantment. If I allow you to do it, the time we spent thus far on beating the enchantment down will be for naught."

"I get it." Sarah nodded. "I'm sorry. I questioned it because… I just can't help it all the time."

"Please do not apologize. Whatever this is, you are clearly not to blame." Caleb instructed Sarah. "Now please, follow our friends while I take some time to think and wash the dust from everyday life out of my fur."

"Okay, Caleb. I understand." Sarah nodded and turned to me. "What exactly are you all going to do now?" she asked.

I shook my head. "I literally have no idea. Let's just walk in some direction."

Sarah gestured with her paw in a deliberately uncaring expression. "Works for me," she assured me.

❊ **Amber's POV ❊**

"Are we totally lost?" I asked confusedly.

"We have a map." Absol reminded me, looking at the piece of equipment "However, all of the mountains look essentially the same around us. It seems we will simply have to go west to get somewhere, and we will find a landmark eventually."

"Which way is even west?" I asked, looking about at the identical mountains.

"The sun sets in the west, and it's afternoon." Charizard supplied my very clueless self. "Meaning we follow the sun."

"Oh." I felt dumb. Really dumb, actually. This has to be the thirtieth time in my pokemon life that they had to re-educate me on the basics of getting somewhere. "...I guess we weren't lost then."

"Eh." Charizard picked me up and put me on his shoulder while Absol jumped atop Magnezone. "We could always fly up and get a better view anyways."

"Right," I muttered, embarrassed.

We flew up as I watched the ground below. Flying was always an incredible feeling. One thing I was never able to do on my own. I didn't want to take my chances jumping as high as I could, though. Especially after Caleb told me there was no oxygen in space. I still needed oxygen, no matter what.

I shuddered at the thought of accidentally jumping too high. Considering I got knocked off Rayquaza's place after I blew up the meteor, heights just… didn't seem to matter anymore because I would be fine.

I blinked. That burst of confidence had been very sudden. I looked down at the ground far below. Despite not likely to be injured at all from a fall like this, when I actually looked down, I didn't want to fall at all. Why would I be afraid of it?

The rational thought did me some good… In the company of my own team. They did inspire a degree of confidence from me. What rational reason did I have for suddenly being afraid of people? Or being shy?

There wasn't anything rational about it. That was why it bugged me. I recognized it made no sense, but I still couldn't really help it. I didn't like it when I felt my personality flip on me. I really could **feel** it when I was thinking about it and it happened. Controlling it yielded no results, nothing.

I could only be glad I hadn't met anybody ever that made me act mean, or otherwise not on the good side. I suddenly envisioned myself with a sneer with evil eyes, and shuddered. I never wanted to be like that. Ever. The mental image I just gave myself was practically nightmare fuel, evil laugh included. I was thankful that Gardevoir guarded my dreams in a way.

"Guys… Could you help me? I need a distraction." I announced.

Magnezone looked directly at me. "W-Worried about possible personality troubles again-n?" he warbled "J-Judging by the utter lack of evidence that you will ever become violent in the face of someone, I would hope you could put those fears to rest-t"

"I… I know." I murmured "I just have a hard time with that."

"Which we understand," Charizard assured me with that smirk of his. "We were going for a while. Do you want to take a nap while we fly?"

"No thanks." I denied. "Seeing the ground go by below us is pretty cool."

And then we flew on in silence. That was when absol and I spotted a flock of bird pokemon coming up on our right.

"Look alive," Absol commanded. "Their maneuver looks suspiciously like an attempt to flank us."

"Left side too," Charizard muttered after checking our left. "That one's a staraptor."

"The right group… I don't recognize these pokemon" I admitted.

"A flock of mandibuzz." Absol identified.

Charizard slowed and began to flap in place while the flock of birds rose in front of us. "Hey." one of them chattered. "Got any valuables on ya?"

"Oh, **great**." Charizard muttered "bandits."

Bandits were often pokemon who got bored one day and spent some time bullying other pokemon, finding that they found it fun and a good way to spend time. So they develop groups and demands that they give and start messing with everybody they find. They looked like Absol could take them out from the ground if he chose, honestly.

Before we could retort, the staraptor flashed between us and them, glaring at the mandibuzz flock, who were starting to be affected by it's intimidate ability already. "Found you," he said simply. His badge gleamed as he flapped in place. The pokemon squawked and turned to flee. "No, you don't!"

Five minutes later, as we passerby watched the solo rescue team member order the beaten up but still flying vultures to go down to the ground so that he could take them to the guild.

Two minutes later, we were alone in the sky again. All of us save Magnezone blinked and looked each other.

"Well… That was a thing." Charizard started flying again.

"Tell me about it. There is an entire sky out there, right?" I asked.

"Plenty of it to go around," Absol confirmed with a frown.

"I didn't even get to roast the buggers," Charizard complained. He always did like to have the first shot when attacking bandits or other opponents that were on the request boards.

"I'm sure you'll get the chance to roast somebody eventually," I muttered. "Should we begin descending slowly?"

"We could dive-bomb the town." Charizard offered.

I tightened my grip on his shoulder a bit. "No thank you," I replied timidly.

"Ow," Charizard complained. I yelped and released his shoulder.

"Sorry!" I exclaimed, keeping my paws to myself again. He chuckled and brought an arm back to ruffle the fur on my head before we began a slow descent to get to town.

* * *

"Gengar, nine O'clock." Absol warned as we landed.

"Haven't we had enough freaky chance moments?" I asked.

"Kekeke…" I heard, and shivered.

I turned to face him. "Uh… Hi, Gengar." I muttered. Our teams relationship with his was very complicated nowadays. Despite him being a human that was cursed by Ninetales, er, the non-queen one (So confusing that there were **three** ninetales we had to keep track of, Vulnona included), he never spoke about anything past the period of time in which I met him. He was also a prat most of the time. Had some odd serious moments though.

I was struck with a thought as I looked at the grinning ghost type, who no doubt had some sort of mischief planned. "Hey, er… Before you bug us…" I murmured timidly "I've got this friend who was also previously human, and he's got his memories."

Gengar's smile disappeared in a flash, looking confused as to what I was getting at.

"Er…" I cursed my nature around this guy mentally "I never ever asked you this before, but I wondered if you had memories from that time in your life." I ventured. My team had varying looks on them. Charizard generally was not a fan of this particular ghost type, Magnezone was obviously expressionless. Absol seemed surprised but proud that I had actually cut the guy I faced off and asked my own question.

His confused look sank into a frown. "..." he said nothing. He simply looked at me in a way that made me shiver. However, I did not shiver because he clearly had some sort of prank planned, but I shivered because that was the kind of look that tells you the person looking at you is practically looking straight through you like you're not there. "...Curses can be very volatile when put on someone hastily." he decided to say. "I'm not in the mood for this anymore. Later."

And he started walking away, his medicham and arbok teammates staring after him with shock plastered on their faces. "G-gengar?" I asked, but in a fashion I hadn't seen before in my **entire** experience with him, he held one of his hands up in farewell without turning around and kept walking away. I'd never touched on his previous life, but that conversation had obviously shaken him to his core somehow.

"The heck's gotten into **him**?" Charizard asked.

"We seem to have struck on a sensitive topic," Absol noted. He frowned. "That was immensely different behavior from Gengar's norm. Perhaps he would be more open to conversation after this event. Hopefully."

I just stared after him. That… I couldn't hope to describe that. "W-We honestly know very little about him in the first place-e" Magnezone warbled thoughtfully.

"He said 'curses can be very volatile when put on someone hastily'" Absol reminded us. "I believe he was indeed saying that he had little to no memory of his life before that curse, although it is notable that considering the deed he did, his personality seems to have remained."

"...Which is different from Jake and I, because we didn't have our memories. Blank slates." I murmured. Absol nodded and started to lead me away towards our home. My team walked up to our house and entered the door, finding nothing amiss once again. I just wanted to get some sleep after the events of this day. They were mentally exhausting. A few jobs accomplished, delivering things, and then getting 'jumped' by bandits who e didn't have to fight, and then… Gengar. Pops up, frowns, walks away."

Ugh, who was I kidding? I'd be lucky if I got any sleep while thinking about Gengar. But prying into other people's business wasn't really my thing. I grumbled as I stood up and went to the window out of sheer boredom. People walked along the roads as the sun lowered in the sky like they did every day. I spotted a few familiar faces walking through the crowds in the next several minutes. There was that greninja and ampharos duo, an extremely familiar staraptor landed in the middle of the crowd and spoke with a not so familiar doduo, and there was Vulnona and her family.

And there was Singe. My lips curls downward very slightly as I watched the arcanine approach Vulnona, as he generally would. Singe glanced back at Twilight for a moment, which made me blink, but then he was looking forward again. I must have imagined it. But he stepped straight up to Vulnona while Twilight held back with that pained expression on her face. A wordless battle between emotion-sensitive reasoning and outright desire.

The blastoise, Gunner, loomed over Singe pretty quickly, as if he was prepared to knock the guy down without hesitation. Singe barked something at the blastoise, likely telling him to back off, and was promptly doused in response. He yipped in surprise, although Redmund seemed to tell Gunner to stand down.

I could barely make out the conversation from the window, even with the ears of an eevee, but Redmund and Vulnona were thoroughly tired of the nonsense that Singe kept bringing about. My ears lowered a bit as I saw Twilight shift on her paws, truly not wanting to get involved. She was as timid as I often was at times. I sighed and went to turn away, but Vulnona said something with a clear sharp tone, and I watched Singe jerk back in surprise, as did Redmund, actually. The ninetales turned away from Singe, almost brushing him with her tails, and her team turned away one by one.

Whatever rejection Vulnona had chosen to say this time, it had done quite a bit more to Singe than any of her more polite rejections or even her more… Fiery ones. Singe must have aggravated the ninetales really bad for her to react like that. That hadn't gone well at **all**.

I sighed and turned away from the window now. Maybe at some point, I'd get to sleep today. Then again, maybe not. Things were just so crazy today, mentally exhausting. "Too tired to sleep." I grumbled, "It's just kind of swirling in my brain."

"Most people would ask us to just knock them out or something if they couldn't sleep, but that's not going to work." Charizard joked. It wasn't **that** commonplace for people to ask someone else to knock them out just to get some sleep. But he **was** right in that it wouldn't work on me.

I curled up in my bed quietly, shifting uncomfortably for a little while. I closed my eyes, wincing as memories quickly flashed through my brain from today. I had to think of something else, forget for a moment what was happening recently.

My thoughts turned to the day that I had dreamed of those odd incredibly quick absol-like creatures Phase and Shift. I'd touched that doll and made it transform into my human version. My thoughts then turned to Caleb refusing to tell me something that had dawned on him when I described the markings on the doll. But… He didn't tell me because it would only hurt me, right? He said something like that… It was part of a life that was irrelevant to me now.

It occurred to me that Caleb didn't treat his own life like it was irrelevant to him now… Perhaps the difference between me and him was memory. And memory was something I didn't have before the time I woke up in the forest with Charizard, a charmander at the time, standing above me. My past meant little to me because I had no memory of it.

That might also be why I had a tougher time understanding his hesitance to tell me what he thought those markings meant. My… Inexperience. It was an odd feeling. Not a pleasant one. It was better than feeling like I was too stupid to understand, or having the delusion that Caleb thought I was too stupid to understand, which I felt was clearly not true.

My life had been twisted around a lot since I came here, though… it was relatively simple in our first region, when I didn't have to differentiate between the ways everybody acted towards me. If it wasn't specifically a constant unease and distrust and even angry resentment of me that people around there tended to show rather than overall kindness, I might have preferred back then.

And even when people resented and or were frightened of me, it was so… Simple. So easy to understand. This is what my friends think of me, this is what everyone else things, with a few exceptions. Nowadays it was that everybody I saw looked at me and recognized me, and it was that every single person I passed had a **different** opinion about me. I didn't like that because I couldn't keep track of it at all. There was a majority that seemed to fall under the category of respect, but it was still so different, so complicated.

I could only appreciate that Caleb's plan somehow got me out of anything on the extreme ends of the scale; Hatred or worship. Either of those would be terrifying. I gave a soft whine. There was no way I was going to be able to sleep like this!

If I stuck to present issues, even ignoring the rest of the mentally exhausting day, Gengar's reaction stuck in my mind. That was just straight up **weird**. Unorthodox. How on earth was I supposed to interpret this?

On the one hand, he did almost, **almost** confirm that he had little to no memory left because of the whole 'curses can be very volatile when put on someone hastily' thing. On the other, his frown and immediate bad mood suggested he had some sort of unresolved issue with that event, or with his previous life.

Maybe he just didn't like remembering it. I mentally sighed at the thought. Whether it was regret or frustration or just straight sorrow on his face, that day really hadn't been good for him.

I only got to sleep when I mentally recognized that that was as far as I could understand with my level of analytical skills. Finally, my eyes closed with my team relaxing in their own ways.

"Rough day?"

I jumped and whipped around to see Gardevoir in my small dreamscape. "Yikes." I muttered "Yeah, I guess. Stressful."

She smiled and gestured for me to come forward. "It's easier when you talk about it," she said, a phrase I heard often enough from her. I smiled and complied, sitting near her and lying down.

"Today's just been super weird." I started "We woke up on the other side of the region, ready to head home after the mission we finished last night and just kind of chose to sleep right outside the dungeon when we escaped it. That tepig's going to be fine, by the way. After walking for a bit and feeling lost, we decided to fly back. This… Well, we got ambushed in mid-air by a flock of bandits, which were immediately beaten down by a staraptor, so all three of us crossed paths. I think the staraptor didn't even see us at all, honestly. It just showed up, beat the birds to the ground, and arrested them."

"In the middle of the sky? With miles and miles of open air around you?" Gardevoir asked, blinking. I gave a light laugh and nodded. Then, my cheerful expression died off, and Gardevoir noticed instantly. "What's wrong, Amber?"

"Gengar happened to be there when we landed, just by chance." I said, "And he was being pretty predictable, but…"

Gardevoir leaned forward as I hesitated.

"He acted really, really weird. I asked… If he remembered about the day he turned into a pokemon because of Ninetales, and his grin got wiped off his face so fast… And instead of bugging me like he planned to, he just said something kinda cryptic and walked away. It was creepy."

Gardevoir sighed. "Even I hardly remember that time. It was so long ago." she told me "I was not present for the event itself, and I rarely got the chance to speak to Gengar as time went on, considering my state. I must be honest, I do not fully know how I managed to wind up in your own dreams, but I did my best to help anyways. I know Gengar can be… Difficult, and he does not seem to have changed as a result of the punishment Ninetales gave him all those years ago, yet…"

"It must have been rough or something." I murmured.

Gardevoir smiled at me. "It says a lot about you that you care so much about someone who has been cruel to you in the past." she complimented me. "You never could show hatred towards anybody, not ever. One more way that you are strong."

I sighed. "Being strong's caused too much of a problem, honestly…" I said quietly. Gardevoir seemed to become aware of my sad expression, and she too sighed as she moved to sit next to me, resting her hand comfortingly on the top of my head.

"I know." she whispered back "Someday, that strength is going to be very important. I know it. You'll find a reason to be strong very soon, but right now, all you have to be is strong in the heart and mind." she comforted me.

I closed my eyes. "...Thank you, Gardevoir." I murmured, lowering my head to the 'ground'.

"Anytime, Amber," she replied, resting next to me. Did she actually need rest? I don't know. The people in Caleb's dream needed rest at least. I could still go into a deeper sleep while in this dream, or at least further rest my mind with what felt like sleep.

Unfortunately, life had other plans for me. There was a weird warping sound and I suddenly shivered, my eyes flying open.

I scrambled to my paws as I whirled around, seeing a rift in the wall of my dreamscape being closed by hand. "Hey." I heard, and I backed up quite a bit until my backside slammed into the wall. Shivering, I stared at the figure above me. Gardevoir leaped between him and myself, but he still met my eyes.

"It's about time we had a little chat." Gengar decided.

* * *

 **And that was that. Next chapter, we are going to start the next part of the tournament. i can't hold that one back any longer, so we might as well get on with it while Caleb tries to solve his super-puzzle and everyone else tries to make do with what they have to deal with. I found this chapter interesting to write, so I hope it was interesting to read at least. I am quite excited for this new part of the tournament, so I will see you there!**

 **After that little paragraph, it's time to cut things off for the day. Thank you all for reading this, and have a nice day. Please review, etcetera.**

 **Angelica: (pops up out of nowhere) Hi!**

 **Me: (Shudders and freezes)**


	21. Chapter Twenty-One

**Hello, once again my dear readers.**

 **Jango: Hey, look at this! Hyper got over his laziness enough to actually put the symbols next to the POV changes this time! See, this lazy bugger stopped bothering, which must have seemed strange.**

 **Me: They don't cross over from google docs to well... Except for Amber's. Her POV symbols make the cut. I guess it was weird to see, so this time I made the effort to include the symbols again.**

 **Jango: His laziness aside, I gotta say, this chapter is all sorts of weird and fluctuate-y.**

 **Me: Admittedly, yes. The setup was difficult. I have to make the second challenge a bit shorter in terms of storytime. It would normally be a huge time spending situation... I'm sure I could have worded that more eloquently.**

 **Jango: Yep.**

 **Me: Anyways, there are probably going to be more time skips during this part of the story, as well as the POV shifts being more common and sporadic. I felt the need to warn you all.**

 **Jango: That's cuz you're a sap.**

 **Me: Shut up, Jango. Anyways, let's start reviews with West. Caleb... Isn't meant to be the best character. He has good intentions, yes, but... As you pointed out... I don't know how properly to answer that concern. I suppose we can simply assume he is good enough for that.**

 **Nerdy Retard, I apologize for making you angry. The events of that conversation are brought about by Caleb, and he is certainly in character in this case. His comments about truly losing, well, I have a feeling that most of us, myself included, can disagree with him. His friends simply do not know how to help him understand their point of view. Interestingly enough, I almost left Gengar's conversation with Amber out of the picture by accident as I was writing... But I got it, don't worry.**

 **Oh no, What Lies Beyond. The sky confrontation was actually pure coincidence. It is essentially obligatory at this point to remind the readers how common random occurrences seem to happen to the characters in this story. Thanks to our conversations via PM, I learned what that mission was and it helped me decide how to run that particular discussion in the story.**

 **Jango: I have no regrets. Trapping Frost is fun.**

 **Me: ...Anyways, Calvire, you will have to live without knowing anything more about Jango until he comes up. For one, that's spoilerific, and two, Jango would paralyze me if I started because he's concerned about his big intro. We agreed that I can tell you that he has yellow eyes.**

 **...What's this about Phase Shift in pokken tournament? Did those universe jumping little rascals invade the game? I hope they're not messing with the players too much... Anyways, Phillip Harbindinger, I will take a look at the 'literally' section of your review and see if I should fix it based on your thoughts. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.**

 **Never thought you were dead, LucarioKing1008. Well, yes. I can say that I will not forget about the Crystal Community. This chapter actually should inadvertently address when we might next see it, if you can spot it.**

 **Finally, thank you GGuy12345 for informing me about the mistake on chapter eighteen. I have fixed the issue now. Thank you for your compliments and I hope you will continue to enjoy it from here on out.**

 **Anyways, let's go ahead with chapter twenty-one of TAC2!**

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty-One: Second Challenge**

❊ **Amber's POV** ❊

"G-Gengar!" I exclaimed, shuddering.

Gengar held his arms up in a surrendering gesture, his eyes calmly closed. "Calm down, kid. I'm not gonna attack you." he proclaimed "Mostly because there's no point, and admittedly, just an eensy bit because you'd kick my spectral ass from here to next Friday if you thought you honestly had to to protect yourself."

I flinched. "I didn't mean to hit you that hard that one time…" I whispered "I keep saying that. I just… Put a bit too much power into my spark attack, and…" I broke off, looking away.

Gardevoir remained between the two of us, her glare causing Gengar to—I'm pretty sure I was hallucinating—seemingly wilt a bit. His back hunched over. What on earth was happening? "It's fine, kid." he dismissed my worry "Seriously. It's pretty much common knowledge nowadays that you're not to be held accountable when you accidentally overpower your strikes. You owe a lot to your human absol friend, actually."

"...I know…" I looked away. "But Caleb keeps insisting that I shouldn't do anything for him."

"Eh, as far as I can tell, he just isn't concerned about his own health." Gengar shrugged, promptly sitting down and giving up on getting anywhere nearer to me. "But that's not what I came to talk about in the slightest."

I looked up at him, trying to shove down what seemed to be irrational fear right now. "Then w-what did you want to talk about?" I asked, failing not to stutter.

Gengar just gestured to Gardevoir. "Her," he said simply. Gardevoir blinked. I blinked. That was **not** what I thought I was going to hear. The guy was acting totally different today! And it was weird!

"Explain," Gardevoir told him flatly.

"See, I've happened across something interesting." he started, reaching out to his side and in a flash of darkness, a piece of paper appeared. A request. "Something I've been wondering about for a long time."

He set the page, likely brought into the dream by his own power, down onto the ground in front of me. I, hesitating, stepped forward to look at it.

It was a request by a ninetales It did not specify which, but as I read, my eyes widened a little. I looked at the image in the center of the page; it looked like a circular plate built out of nine swirling tails that were probably representations of a ninetales' tails. Those surrounded an emblem of a fire with a swirl in the origin of the flame.

"The 'nine tail crest'," Gengar explained. "Said to be a legendary item that a ninetales can use to boost the power of one, and only one, of their curses."

"But… What does this have to do with us?" I asked.

"I'll show you." Gengar got to his feet, stepping away and spreading his arms towards the opposite wall of my dream, implementing his power over dreams. The invisible wall shimmered and changed colors, showing a screen. It showed Ninetales, **our** ninetales, sitting alone in a field of flowers surrounded by trees and a cliff overlooking the grasslands.

It showed Gengar stepping straight out of the shadows. "Ninetales." the memory Gengar said in a more gruff manner than the one in front of Gardevoir and myself was acting.

"Hello, Gengar." the pokemon responded evenly, turning her head.

The memory continued to play out, with Gengar stepping forward and sticking the same piece of paper in Ninetales' face. "You put this job on the board." he accused "Made sure it would still be around by the time I got there."

"Indeed."

"Why."

Ninetales tilted her head. "Pardon?" she seemed to be pretending not to understand what he meant.

"What are you going to do with an enormously powerful curse?" Gengar asked. "Believe me, I remember the last one."

"The curse is not for me," Ninetales explained promptly. "Tell me, what is the one thing that you have desired all of these years?"

I blinked as I watched the memory of Gengar step away from her. "What the heck do ya' mean?" Gengar demanded.

Ninetales stood up and walked up to him. "I mean." she said, "That it is about time that you have the power to make the choice you have wanted to make from square one."

Gengar let the memory screen go away, replaced by the multicolored aurora that was the rest of my dream. He turned back to us. "Ninetales told me to be honest," he said, crossing his arms. "About what I've wanted for ages."

He tilted his head somewhat. "Now, to tell you the truth, I was kinda confused at first," he admitted. "Mostly because what I wanted was a more… Recent thing, or so I thought. I guess Ninetales was just going on one of her existential rants or something, about how I've always wanted it but never realized it or some other poetic message that I don't understand."

He shook his head and looked at Gardevoir. "Simply put, Ninetales' curse forced Gardevoir into the spirit world even though she was-... Is still alive. The job…" he looked at me now. "Is to fix that."

I had stopped shivering by this point, completely nonplussed. I just kind of stared at the ghost type for a long time.

"Apparently, the seal is in the Murky Cave back home." Gengar continued. "And once this tournament is over, and we go back home, we can go there and get her that nine tail crest. We can bring Gardevoir back to the physical world."

 _...Whaaaaat!?_

Gardevoir stared openly at Gengar just as I was doing. Was this guy really talking about helping Gardevoir? But.. He'd been nothing but someone who wanted to annoy me or scare me from day one! Only occasionally had he acted weird, but here, he was completely flip-flopping on me and Gardevoir, and as a last thought, I didn't have the **slightest** impulse of thought that he was bluffing or trying to confuse me. He had that request, after all.

"Wait a second, what are you asking me?" I asked.

Gengar looked away sheepishly. "Ah… My team and I tried to get through the Murky Cave once," he told me. "It uh… Didn't go well. Because you know Gardevoir, I figured you'd be able to help, and probably willing to too."

"Um…" I murmured uncertainly "Shouldn't you be asking Gardevoir?" I asked timidly.

"...Eh?"

"Me," Gardevoir spoke up. "This is my future you are talking about, after all."

Gengar blinked. "Well." he said, crossing his arms "I don't see any reason for you not to want to get back to the world of the living."

"What about Amber?" Gardevoir asked.

"...Eh?" Gengar asked for a second time.

"It is most likely that my presence here prevents nightmares by giving Amber this area to find herself in when she sleeps," Gardevoir explained tersely. "And I greatly enjoy speaking with her every night, listening to her talk about everything she experiences. I give her council, and I do my best to help her. I happen to enjoy being here very much."

She leaned towards Gengar slowly. "What gives you the impression that I want to leave?" she asked.

Gengar showed an expression of surprise. "Eh…" He frowned. "..."

"I decided long ago to remain and protect Amber from her own nightmares and fears right here." Gardevoir reiterated. "I've given up my place in the physical world. And I am happy with that decision. Now, if there is nothing else…"

"...One more thing." Gengar seemed to give up on his earlier topic, as he dismissed the request he had. "Listen, I'm done getting my ass kicked every time I pick a fight."

"So don't pick a fight," Gardevoir growled, even as my ears perked up as I got his meaning.

He turned and walked away, but before he reached the wall of my dream, he turned and sent a smirk our way. "Exactly."

He warped out of my dream then, leaving Gardevoir and me in silence.

"...Woah." I muttered.

"..." Gardevoir said nothing.

"Uh… Gardevoir?" I asked, prodding her with my paw.

"Gengar…" she murmured "It as been many years since I saw such a sincere smile from you."

"Whoa, what?" I asked.

She continued looking at the spot where Gengar had vanished. "Did I ever tell you about the reason why he became a pokemon after he eventually died from old age?" she asked.

⽯ **Caleb's POV** ⽯

"Goldeneye." I greeted the bipedal fox pokemon as I stepped forward. I was in a clearing, looking at the many symbols on the ground and the trees, the many magic circles carved into everything around me. I had not brought anyone with me, although everyone knew I was here. Erza and Daemyn were currently… Occupying Sarah, who had gotten particularly jumpy this morning when she learned what I was doing, everything she wanted was hanging on my instincts right now, and Sarah feared that she would not be able to contain herself as her 'chances' disappeared.

"Hello, Caleb." she replied kindly, gesturing to the center, open ring. "There are some things you need to know about this."

"I am listening." I stepped up and sat down in the middle of the center ring.

"If we are going to simply do this, I must warn you that you may experience a slight headache after this." she started "This is not entirely removing your instincts. It is removing the emotional aspect of your instincts. This means that the magic is tearing a part of your instincts out instead of cleanly removing it. It may… Hurt."

"I will endure," I said simply.

"I have no doubt." she nodded. "This is a process that would be next to completely impossible to reverse without a long period of time spent creating another, much more complicated array."

"I understand."

"Because you are an absol, and I am technically injuring you in a sense, it is likely that your horn will alert you that you are in danger. You will feel the impulse to get out of the way, to bolt."

"If fighting my remaining instincts gives me a headache, I will persevere," I replied calmly.

"And please, try not to move. I do not know how much it will hurt, or how much danger you will sense, but I suspect that much of each will be involved. If you move, I cannot guarantee a successful attempt."

"Still like a stone," I muttered.

"Precisely." Goldeneye drew her wand and pointed it at me. "Are you ready for this?"

"I have been ready to be rid of these emotion-based instincts since the day I learned of them."

"Fair enough." Goldeneye began chanting. Golden light began shining as the magic circles became much more apparent, releasing a glow that spread away from them. The light beams seemed to refract off of one another, sailing around me in a dome of light. Eventually, the light beams formed magic symbols in mid-air. It seemed that the fox had layered these enchantments to act one after the other by forming new symbols with the light.

Those symbols emitted light as well that once again refracted around each other in small beams, creating another incomplete dome of light around me, much closer to me. I looked to my left, and saw that the beams interlocked with the beams behind it in my vision. From the side, they meant nothing, but from my angle, I was looking at another symbol created from the two meter-apart layers of light. Ahead of me, to my right, and likely behind me the same was occurring, and those symbols too emitted light in my direction.

The light pushed into me, feeling physical to an extent. It was stored magical power I was feeling being pushed into my body. The light was still refracting in different places very close to me, collecting into small golden symbols that circled my body in many places. This is why the procedure to create this thing took so very long, I imagined.

And finally, those symbols glowed and I felt a pulling sensation from all of them. My fur was rustling as it moved towards and then away from the symbols over and over. For the first (and last) time, I opened my mind to be edited by another intentionally.

Then my absol senses did just what Goldeneye said they would do. It was almost like hearing my own voice try out: 'This is dangerous! Get away now! The damage could be permanent!'.

 _It is not damage. It is permanent. I will stay._

With my absol senses trying to turn my thoughts around and feeling a slight headache building, I stood my ground without so much as changing my expression. I searched my mind, and I could **feel** the poisonous emotion-based instincts being torn from my mind. It hurt, but I felt nothing else changing. Good. Very good.

It lasted five entire minutes. It was clearly a very delicate procedure, and my head was ringing with pain. However, it was a wonderful sort of pain that I relished in. It was a pain that meant I was finally going to be free from emotions that weighed on me unnaturally. Or Naturally, all things considered.

At this point, my absol senses were screaming out at me intensely, telling me to stop tearing a part of my instincts out like this. It was like having a mental argument with myself. Again. Although in this case, the one was a rambling, incoherent bundle of fear while I remained rational and firm in my position. I would not lose today.

No. Today I was going to actually win something. My own mind back. I felt happiness drown out the fear elicited by 'danger'. I allowed myself a broader smile than usual as I felt that aspect of me disappear forever, and the golden glow began to die away.

"Don't move yet," Goldeneye ordered. I obediently remained still, calmly watching the magic user scramble about, waving her wand around and doing… Something. I do not know precisely what she was trying to accomplish this time, but I imagined she was simply making certain there were no negative effects to be found in the near environment as a result of the large amount of magic power. Negative effects that might harm me. Finally, she stilled and lowered her wand. "...It is over," she announced.

I stood up from my sitting position and stretched like a cat, before balancing myself and stretching my forelegs somewhat. I was almost as limber as Sarah was by this point, which was very good. If I kept up this stretching, I could make appropriate gestures with my paws like Sarah does.

At some point, I would have to discover why I started off without being very flexible at all. It was an odd situation I was in, actually. I knew that I could not study that without extensively looking into the cells of my body, which required equipment. It was something I might have to put off for many years, and then it may simply be completely irrelevant to me.

I quit stretching and turned to Goldeneye. "Thank you." I bowed my head to her. "I owe you a great debt."

"Nonsense." she twirled her wand within her claws. "It was enough to be provided with a challenge for my magical knowledge, and what a challenge it was, I must say."

I had expected that response, of course, but I had been making the attempt to be polite. "Very well," I said, turning away. "I suggest you prepare yourself, for tomorrow we all will be rushing for the guildmasters and their treasures."

"I wish you luck."

"As do I."

"And Caleb?"

"Yes?"

"I have not seen Braixen for many days. Considering how she attempts to learn from me by proxy… Do you have any insight?"

"Yes." I nodded. "Braixen has been very busy these past few days. Like you, she seems not to know what rest is."

Goldeneye raised a brow. "Something cryptic? Is that not your friend Absol's territory?"

"This is strategy, Goldeneye," I replied, beginning to walk away. "Not typical criticism."

"Fair enough, I suppose. Good luck tomorrow."

"Thank you."

⻤ **Shedinja's POV** ⻤

"This puzzle is irritating."

" _Caleb, are you losing it? This is the third time you have said that within the last ten minutes."_ " **Shedinja** ," I said, a tad worried. It had been several days now, and the tournament was about to begin again.

"I have been at this for days," Caleb muttered, spinning the rings. " **Days** , Shedinja. It is incredible. I actually have found something to challenge me. I am irritated, yet immensely excited about this. Perhaps I am 'losing it', as you say, but in the end, when I achieve this, it will honestly feel like I have accomplished something."

His smile was great to see. All he needed was some mental stimuli and he transformed from gloomsville into someone much brighter and happier.

"It comes down to this one single ring," Caleb explained to me as he reached it. Every other ring was the same color except for that one. It was very small, with only four points and stuck between two very large rings. "After nearly a full day of looking at this one, it is confusing me. Not due to its complexity, but by the apparent sheer impossibility of it."

" _What do you mean?"_ " **Shedinja** ," I asked.

"Unlike every single other ring in this system." Caleb circled areas of the puzzle with his paw "This single, minuscule star is directly between two of the sections and not in the way of where they connect. Furthermore, the ring is impossible because one section requirement is to change the color twice, which I was only able to solve after advancing on the section from two angles. The other section, unfortunately enough, is a section in which I am only allowed to turn each ring once."

He frowned. "I have to change the color of this ring twice and yet can only turn it once. I refuse to believe that this puzzle is impossible, but the extremely roundabout way of solving this puzzle is eluding me yet. There must be something immensely complicated that I am missing."

I mentally frowned. " _Did you think to just move the ring?"_ " **Shedinja**."

He stared at me. "Pardon?" he asked.

" _Maybe you could shift the physical position of the ring so that it isn't in between the zones at all,"_ I suggested. " **Shedinja**."

Caleb looked at the puzzle again. "I can't." he refuted, pushing on the device with his paw without spinning any of the stars. "Observe. The device completely fails to react to the force of my paw. Either I need far more power to shift it, or-..."

" _Caleb?"_ " **Shedinja**."

"Hmm." he hummed as he looked at me. "Say, this treasure is something of yours, after all. Perhaps you would be willing to help finish it? I cannot apply enough force to complete the puzzle, **if** that is how I am supposed to defeat it and not some other way…" he shook his head. "I will leave the decision up to you."

I was confused. He was letting me choose whether to finish the puzzle now? I didn't even know if it would work that way. He was making it my choice because it was my treasure in the first place. He had stated multiple times in the last few days that he was surprised that I was so generous by giving it to him. However, it was like he failed to consider it to be ultimately his. He was telling me that if I wanted to, I could solve the puzzle right now by pushing the rings out of their normal position and letting Caleb spin the ring and change the color, finishing the puzzle.

" _Well… I know you wouldn't want to get rid of your chance to have the satisfaction of solving it."_ I thought worriedly " _I mean, it's nice to see you being happy, so…"_ " **Shedinja**."

Caleb looked into the glowing puzzle with his eyes calm and collected. "Hmm." He hummed. "Unfortunately, I have attempted every mix of turns and options in this puzzle. And once I realized I had followed every reasonable path to this point, a total of sixty-two possible paths starting from a dozen different points, reaching the same result. It has just occurred to me that this is a magical puzzle, and it may have been designed to be at least finished by you. Considering your body fails to take 'no' for an answer, I believe that the puzzle is designed for you to complete."

He looked at me. "Because I have no doubt that of the many conveniences of magic include identifying who comes into contact with something first." he finished.

I hesitated for a moment, not entirely certain, but eventually I nodded and floated closer to the magic puzzle. Carefully shifting one part of my 'wing' into the mess of rings and stars, I pushed it against the one that Caleb specified. Unlike what Caleb described its actions against him, my body shifted it easily, until that ring was in a single region.

Caleb's paw darted in as he spun the star one single time and that star attained the same coloring as all the rest. Puzzle complete. The rings started to glow a brilliant blue as Caleb closed his eyes instinctively. I couldn't close my eyes, nor did I need to.

The glow fled from the rings in an inwards motion, coalescing in the center of the object. Then, the set of rings collapsed onto the ground, their color going gray. The leftover light glowed in a little energy sphere that just… Hovered there.

Caleb opened his eyes. "Intriguing." he murmured immediately. "The reward for solving the puzzle is the energy from the puzzle itself extracted in a sphere." He suddenly frowned. "I have not yet built any way to contain this kind of energy… It makes me wonder what we must do with this orb of magic power."

Before I could even begin to think about Caleb's words, Sarah barged in. "Caleb, Shedinja," she said. "In a few hours, everybody's going to start on the second challenge at once, so… Hey, that thing's like what Wigglytuff did!"

Caleb blinked. "Sarah, you have seen this phenomenon before?" he asked, then blinked once more. "Are you certain?"

"Yep." Sarah nodded as she padded forward. "It's blue, but it's just like that. When Wigglytuff did it, I learned heal pulse." she demonstrated by blowing a small pink vortex for a moment and then cutting the energy off.

"I had suspected that Wigglytuff had used magic to accomplish that, but I had not been certain," Caleb admitted, looking at the glowing sphere. "We have several hours. I shall keep an eye on this thing, while you two… Would you please bring Wigglytuff here?"

"Sure thing, Caleb." Sarah nodded, stepping towards Caleb for a moment. She stopped herself, balking, and then whirled around and walked quickly out the door. I mentally frowned. Sarah had been trying this for several days, and it was getting more difficult for her by the day. I swore that it was starting to cause her actual pain.

But the last time I expressed these concerns, Sarah had been kind of dismissive about it. " _If I succumb because of pain, then I won't get anywhere. If it causes my heart to tear up, then I have to deal with it until it breaks, because then it'll be over. If I… Indulge myself at any point, every ounce of progress I've made will have amounted to absolutely nothing."_ She had said.

It was a reasonable thought, but seeing her have a serious mental struggle at the mere sight of Caleb was difficult to watch.

But I followed her and floated up to Wigglytuff's room. " _I'll wake him up so that you don't get annihilated by that hyper voice again."_ " **Shedinja**." I offered.

"Thank you~" Sarah stepped aside, smiling as I pushed the door open with my body and floated inside.

Wigglytuff was, predictably, taking a nap again. I got up close to the pink pokemon. " _We need your assistance, Wigglytuff."_ I decided to go with. " **Shedinja**."

After tanking the hyper voice (And getting a pile of earth from the ceiling dumped on me), Wigglytuff was up and cheerfully waving at me. "Hiya friend!" he exclaimed, "What did you need help with?"

" _Well, we've managed to find this thing that looks a lot like the magic trick you pulled to teach Sarah heal pulse."_ I explained, " _And we hoped you might be able to recognize what it does."_ " **Shedinja**."

"Of course, friend!" Wigglytuff didn't even ask me to lead the way. He trundled right past me and out the door, making a beeline for our room.

"That was easy," Sarah commented as she padded after the eccentric guildmaster.

" _Truth."_ " **Shedinja** ," I replied shortly.

"I'd help you get that dirt off with the wind from my razor wind attack, but that's a flying type move, so…" Sarah trailed off. I nodded and picked up my pace.

By the time we got to the room, Wigglytuff was prancing about the little magic light that glowed. "So this is the treasure your puzzle gave you?" he asked me as he stopped in front of me.

" _I guess so. Do you know what it does?"_ " **Shedinja**."

Wigglytuff stopped shifting about. "Well, it's like a magical package. Kinda," he explained a little unhelpfully. "You touch it, and whatever is inside does what it's supposed to do. Items appear from the light, or a move is taught, or something."

Sarah and Caleb blinked, and I definitely wanted to join them in that action. That had been rather unspecific, but…

"If it teaches a technique, or is a gift of sorts, I would suggest that Shedinja uses it immediately." Caleb commented "...However, I do not know how it will work for Shedinja, as he is entirely immune to magic."

"Not entirely." Wigglytuff said dismissively "He can't be **hurt** by magic, or negatively affected in any way, but something like this would probably be kind of like how he can affect himself with swords dance."

This was probably the most coherent the guildmaster had ever been around us, which was a bit strange. I made a mental note that when he talked about magic, he got a bit more serious. Caleb had also noted this, evidently.

"I understand," Caleb said just as I nodded.

Sarah looked at the guildmaster. "Uh… By the way, I don't know for sure, but… You didn't get rid of your ability to use heal pulse by giving it to me, did you?" she asked.

"Nope!" Wigglytuff smiled. "I can still use it."

Sarah sighed with relief.

"Now, It's been fun hanging with you, friends!" Wigglytuff walked straight out the door "But there's a competition to be ready for!"

"He has several hours," Sarah muttered confusedly.

"He has to get to the hiding place where he will be waiting for the duration of the second portion of the tournament." Caleb reminded us promptly.

"...Whoops." Sarah muttered sheepishly.

I was looking at the magic package-thing and thinking about what it might do for me, or anyone who touched it.

Caleb saw this, and stepped back. "The gift is yours, not mine." He claimed, lying down on the ground. "Having battled through a powerful dungeon with a companion who needed support and claimed the treasure yourself, it does not matter how much effort I put into solving the puzzle."

I took this to mean 'use it, darn it, because otherwise it'll float there forever because I am not touching that thing', and mentally smiled. I floated up to it and gingerly tapped it with my body. It flashed and broke into particles of light that flowed into my body, although I felt nothing.

I tried to find some sort of knowledge, but… Nothing. I couldn't feel or remember any fantastic trick. " _ **Well, that was anti-climatic,**_ " I muttered in my mind. " _ **Hey, at least you got to get through that puzzle, I guess.**_ "

I turned to Caleb, who had his brow raised. " _ **What?**_ " I asked.

Sarah walked into my field of view, both her brows raised.

" _ **...What?**_ "

⽛ **Daemyn's POV** ⽛

"I don't believe this," Erza complained, crossing her arms. "Caleb is **late**. He's **never** late!"

"Actually, we're not off for another ten minutes." I corrected her.

"Hush." she reprimanded me good-naturedly.

I grinned. "Make me." I challenged.

 **Clang!**

"Hey, he told me to." Erza shrugged, facing my parents as they watched me get pounded into the ground.

"That he did." dad grinned. I got up with a groan, bringing my paw up to rub my head only to find Mom doing it for me.

"Mother!" I complained.

She chuckled and backed down while I, morbidly embarrassed once more, looked around. We were in this huge crowd again; of course there were people watching. My 'cool' factor was dying a quick and painful death with my parents around.

I wouldn't have traded their presence for **anything**.

" **Everyone!** " we all heard. The voice was echo-ey and kind of like an agitated ghost, dark and what could be confused for anger, but probably wasn't. It rang in my head rather than in my ears, which was strange.

We turned in the direction I knew it came from, and saw Caleb and Sarah and Shedinja moving up to us. "Good morning." Caleb greeted us with his calm smile. "How are you all today?"

"Waiting on you, slowpoke," Erza commented immediately.

"For good reason." Caleb's smile actually rose somewhat.

" **Guys, I can talk now!** " Shedinja echoed, bobbing up and down. We all jumped.

"Telepathy!" Erza exclaimed, shocked. "Shedinja, that's great!"

"How on earth did you manage that!?" I wondered.

"Why does it sound like a ghostly voice if it's telepathy?" Machoke wondered. We ignored him.

" **Caleb solved that puzzle, and after he solved it, it lost its energy and one of those magic package things that Sarah learned heal pulse from was there. So I got telepathy, I guess!** " was Shedinja's excited reply. We all smiled at him as we took that in, happy for the shell of a pokemon.

"Finally got that puzzle done, hm?" Bastiodon rumbled. "We hardly saw much of you these past few days unless you were giving speeches or at the cafe."

"Indeed." Caleb nodded. "I was unable to separate myself from the puzzle for very long."

"You're obsessed with things that make you think," I commented. Instead of a snappy comeback, he just nodded to me.

An exploud stepped onto a platform as it rose from the earth, courtesy of King and Queen, the nidoking and nidoqueen and their earth power trick. " **EVERYONE!** " he shouted, much louder than Shedinja had been. " **SOME GROUND RULES WILL BE SET IN PLACE BEFORE WE TURN YOU LOOSE!** "

"Excellent." Caleb nodded. Charizard landed behind the lot of us, startling everybody but Caleb, who didn't even look around. "And good morning, team Amber. How has your morning been?"

"Fine," Charizard grunted as he set Amber down on the ground.

"I believe we came at the right time," Absol commented as he dropped down from Magnezone right next to Caleb, both intellectuals watching the exploud carefully, despite the large distance between them and him.

"W-we probably should be listening, yes-s" Magnezone warbled, lowering in front of us.

Machoke frowned. "He is pausing for a remarkably convenient amount of time," he commented. We ignored him again.

"Hello, Absol." Ninetales appeared the group, having moved silently.

I lowered my head. "For a moment, I mistook you for the queen," I admitted.

"Is that wishful thinking I hear?" she asked, a small smirk appearing on her face.

My mother blinked, and I knew she had drawn a conclusion. "Don't think about it," I warned her. She broke out in a smile instead of blurting it out, and dad caught on quickly.

"Well, I think it is about time we cleared out," Dad said, smiling at me as he led my mother out of the group that we had gathered. I guess they weren't taking part in the tournament. Oh well, they'd probably find a way to keep tabs on me.

" **FIRST AND FOREMOST, TREASURE TOWN, INCLUDING THE EXPANDED PORTIONS OF THE TOWN, IS TO BE FREE OF ANY TYPE BASED ATTACKS!** " the exploud screamed " **SECOND: THERE ARE NO RESTRICTIONS ON COMBAT OUTSIDE OF THE TOWN! FINALLY, THE POINT OF ALL THIS IN CASE SOME OF YOU FORGOT! EACH GUILDMASTER HAS HOLD OF ONE UNIQUE TREASURE! THE FIRST POKEMON TO ACQUIRE ALL OF THESE TREASURES IN ONE PLACE AND BRING THEM TO AN ALTAR THAT WILL BE CONSTRUCTED RIGHT HERE AFTER YOU LEAVE WILL BE VICTORIOUS!** **FURTHERMORE, IF YOU ARE DEFEATED, YOU MUST HAND THE TREASURES YOU HAVE OVER TO YOUR OPPONENT, OR IF YOU ARE UNCONSCIOUS, THEY MAY TAKE IT FROM YOU!** "

Cheering. Everyone was incredibly excited to get involved in this. I flinched at a thought. "This is gonna turn into a messy beginning," I commented.

"Not so." Caleb reminded me. "In two different speeches in the past few days, I advised all who would listen that to start something in the middle of the crowd would likely simply get them trampled. Those who listened to me would likely wait until many of the people have dispersed to attack somebody else."

"I recall that you worked on educating everyone on strategy." Absol commented "Attempting to even the playing field?"

"I was struck by a rare urge to make things interesting." Caleb explained, "And after the incident back when I was attempting to get home…"

"When you were struck by headaches because your human side clashed with your absol side." I supplied automatically. Caleb smiled.

"Yes, that." He nodded "I learned to listen to my impulses occasionally so as to avoid another incident."

"Hey, at least we suffered together," I said cheerfully, totally ignoring the loud countdown that the exploud was roaring out. Who starts from twenty, anyways? Seriously.

"Hm." Sarah said, lifting her paw and turning it over as if weighing things. "Instinct issues or… Malevolent dark energy."

"What are you implying?" I asked.

"That you can't really equate the two," Sarah smirked.

"Say that again." I challenged.

"None of that argument actually made sense," Erza commented.

"I suggest we split up into smaller groups, or even move alone." Caleb spoke up suddenly just before-"

" **GO!** "

All of us, startled, bolted. Caleb was telling Sarah something about separating so that she could more easily use that to help her with her issue. She reluctantly nodded and purposefully fell back, staying at Shedinja's pace while Absol kept up with Caleb for a moment, before he saw Ninetales getting away and moved to join her, letting Caleb off on his own. I turned to Erza, only to find a blinking green outline in her place. Gone.

I looked back, finding my team running behind me, and I smiled. We'd be just fine.

❊ **Amber's POV ❊**

Charizard had me in his claws. We had agreed that Magnezone and Absol could go off on their own. I suspected that Absol and Ninetales had a conversation they needed to have. I frowned slightly as I saw a shadow racing after them. What was Gengar doing following them? I hadn't seen him since my dream days ago.

But Charizard and I wouldn't ever separate. No way. "Where to first?" my flying friend asked as we lifted off above the ground like every flying type was doing at once in a large flock. Some headstrong spearow had attacked a pidgeotto, but a skarmory had, as Caleb had predicted, flattened the three before they could actually do much. The skarmory and pidgeotto flew off together right afterward, apparently having decided to team up for now.

But there would only be one winner in the end. I honestly didn't care much about this tournament enough to go around beating other people up for it. "So." I said as we flew "Do you want to win this game?"

"Eh." Charizard shrugged. "Going against a guildmaster might be a challenge."

"What do you mean 'might be'?" I asked "They're **guildmasters**. They're tough."

Charizard grinned. "I'll try to beat one, and if I can manage it, we can fly around with the artifact until somebody comes and confronts us."

"Until you need sleep," I muttered.

"...Right." Charizard rubbed his neck sheepishly with his free claw. He brought his arms up and let me hop onto his back as he flew. "Yeah, okay. Sleep is always a nice thing to have."

"And please be careful of magical traps. Remember what Daemyn described?"

"Yep. Stuff of nightmares, that encounter. He says Darkrai saved him from that one."

I shivered. "It's great that he's a good guy at this point, but…" I murmured "It's tough. I know what he tried to do, so there's always that burst of fear…"

"You're fine, Amber."

"But I can't defend against something like sleep." I refuted "If I get sent into an unending dream, what the heck am I supposed to do then?"

"You've got Gardevoir to protect your dreams, and your body's gonna be just fine no matter how much it takes." Charizard continued to explain to me, smiling. "C'mon. You're gonna be fine."

I smiled slightly, dropping it. "...Thanks, Charizard."

"Welcome. Hey, let's go as far as we can to the southeast." Charizard recommended. I shrugged, and he tilted his wings to change his direction.

⽯ **Caleb's POV** ⽯

Hm. For a moment, I had thought that Absol was going to join me impromptu. I hadn't expected him to stick around even for as long as he did. He likely knew that being around me was **not** the correct way to win, as we all agreed that in the end, we would have to turn on one another. Certainly, we could both knock each other out in one hit each, but he knew that I would have thoroughly planned the situation out.

So I was running alone. It had been a while since I was alone for longer than a few hours, and I cannot be honest with myself unless I was thinking that it was a little overdue.

My first stop was Mt. Bristle. The mountain had a very good open, flat area directly at the top with a cliff on one side that rose in a spike. A perfect arena of sorts. Granted, I was not able to tell precisely where the guildmasters were, but with several around the area, I was giving Mt. Bristle a forty-percent for at least, which was quite good considering how many dungeons were around.

As long as none of them managed to use the core dungeons, I would find one eventually, defeated or not. As I ran, I looked at some of the pokemon that were following me, attempting to be sneaky or quiet. My absol senses outlined them quite well. I would have to shake them, meaning I would have to detour through this grassland area for at least an hour to fully shake them, or perhaps even wait in the tall grass hidden until several hours had passed.

I dove into the tall grass like a good hundred other pokemon were doing right now and began a furious zigzag motion that spanned fifteen meters wide and started to twist, turn, and loop. If any pokemon managed to track me, they had to use something other than their eyes or ears as the noise I made mingled with that of other pokemon, so there was no way that I could be distinguished from most others.

Once I was safely separated from the pokemon that had hoped to trail after me because they believed that I would lead them straight to something they could use, I quickly traveled through the grass, hidden, until I was not in anyone's line of travel and laid down in the grass. Safe and hidden.

I waited thirty minutes, and most of the pokemon in the fields around me were moving at slower paces, so I stood up and slipped through the grass again.

Much later, when I stepped to the edge of the grass as it thinned, I found no trace of other pokemon around. They had scattered in the direction of other dungeons that might hold the guildmasters, or, if they learned anything from me, they would be waiting at the entrance for the stronger teams to get the item and then pull an ambush and cause a battle royale, resulting in the tougher team being defeated by numbers, and the sneakiest team, the team with the best ploy, would be able to sneak off during the brawl with the item already in their possession.

Mt Bristle was only a little ways into the mountain range. It was a relatively simple dungeon without much difficulty. That lowered the chances of a guildmaster waiting there, but I felt that the appearance and structure of the top of the mountain made it worth the effort.

My pace was slow, and so it was several hours before I found the mountain looming over me. My uncaring attitude had built up over time. I hardly cared about this challenge. The first challenge had done plenty to elevate Amber and I. However, I needed to do something significant in this challenge at some point.

"Oh, hey." I heard, and turned around. I saw a zigzagoon, a farfetch'd, and a ledyba. The bird with the stick had been the one to speak earlier.

"So you three decided to approach a challenge at your skill level?" I asked calmly, sitting down.

"Well… It'll be challenging for us, mostly because the stairs take forever and a half to find. All the time." Farell the farfetch'd muttered "But hey, we've got you around. Mind helping us get to the top?"

I smiled and nodded. "Follow me," I said, walking towards the mountain. "I care very little for actually emerging victorious in this game." I continued, feigning a conversational tendency. "But I intend to give it my best effort. Granted, I doubt I can defeat any of the guildmaster in a one-on-one unless I have advance preparation for the battlefield, and I am unaware of which guildmasters are where."

I hadn't told them that I had certainly planned for each guildmaster in each location I had detailed knowledge of, but that was something for me to keep to myself. Perhaps this was an opportunity to do one of the outstanding things I needed to do in this portion of the tournament.

It was, after all, for me, a political thing. I must always portray myself as someone who would go out of their way to do something impressive and good even if there are not many witnesses. The fact that I was willing to do it and wanted to help people… That just made it easier for me.

I entered the dungeon, finding enemies immediately. They were relatively easy to dispatch, because they were such low-level dungeon pokemon it was easy to accomplish. The three of the weaker team trailed behind me, not really attacking anything other than a single normal type that they ganged up on. They had very little experience, so by the time we were on the fifth floor, I had decided to change that.

"You three," I said, stopping before them. "Under my guidance, you three will battle through this dungeon yourselves."

"Hang on, what!?" Farell asked.

"Er…" Zoom muttered.

"You three intend on becoming a decent, respectable team, yes?" I asked.

"Of course!" Farell replied quickly and earnestly.

"Then you must **learn**." I said "And you must grow **stronger**. This dungeon has many rock types, but I do know for a fact that you can handle each one with relative ease if you employ strategy and speed to back up your strength. Tell me what additional advantages you have?"

They stared at me blankly until the ledyba slowly waved one of her legs. "Erm…" she muttered "We're… Small?"

Her teammates looked at her like that was a foolish thing to say, but before she could become discouraged, I stepped forward. "Precisely," I said, shocking the normal types that accompanied the ledyba. "You are small enough to slip directly between the fingers of larger enemies. A diminutive size coupled with excellent or even average speed to be detrimental to your opponent's easily if they cannot even touch you."

"...Diminutive? Detrimental?" Zoom asked.

"Particularly small, and potentially causing harm." I clarified quickly. "Yes. Layla is absolutely correct." This caused the bug type's teammates to look at her with surprise and a bit of appreciation. "What else?"

There was a silence. Layla had the answer, I could see it in her expression, but she was graciously giving her teammates the option to answer. "Er…" Farell muttered "You said once when you were talking about dungeons that the pokemon there were not like us in the sense that they do not strategize, that they are hardly awake. They'll just randomly attack with random moves while we can do other things?"

"Precisely," I smiled. "Zoom? Would you like to add something to his statement?"

"We can team up on one enemy at a time." he cheerfully got the answer correct.

"Perfect." I nodded, and walked to the middle of the room. "Here is your challenge. You will defend me."

"Uh… What?" Farell asked.

"I will sit here, and do nothing. Your task is to prevent any hits from landing on me." I elaborated "I suggest gathering the items in this room together so that they can be used. At a moment's notice."

Zoom… Zoomed around immediately and snatched up an oran berry, setting it directly next to me, and then bolted off again. I waited. In fact, Farell and Layla also waited, unwilling to get in the way of the zigzagoon as he barreled from one direction to another, creating a nearly dizzying pattern with his erratic movements.

Once the two oran berries, cheri berry, and a pile of twenty small rocks were gathered, the young pokemon were running around me and trying to speak to one another, deciding exactly how to go about this challenge. They were making the mistake of failing to ask me further questions regarding what they should do; I would have answered freely. Information should always be sought after if available.

And yet they still looked plenty determined.

"Twenty minutes," I said in a monotonous voice. "Begin."

They looked at each other, somewhat bewildered. They did not know what to make of my prompt order, but I had chosen my timing based on my absol senses. The same senses that told me that there were two enemies coming from one of the two entrances to the large room we were within.

I knew their fighting style. I had seen it multiple times during the first part of the tournament, and memorized it. However, then, they had teamwork, but not… Adequate teamwork. It seemed to me that they had taken some of the things I said in my speeches to heart.

And to think Farell had been one of those to accuse me of not knowing what I was talking about because I was new to this world. Impulsive, and not thought out clearly enough, but I cannot expect every person I meet to understand what it means to be experienced when they see it .

Watching the group focus on the non-rock type first and then start distracting and pounding away at the rock type, I gave a small smile. Priorities, dodging skills, everything. They certainly had gotten better.

Even though Farell **insisted** on hitting the geodude over and over with that stick of his instead of using an actual attack. On the other hand, he seemed to have gotten rather decent at using the weapon… With his wings somehow. I could see him holding the weapon, the wing curved around the leek in a way that made me wonder how the bones in a farfetch'd's wings are shaped like to be so easy to move at the extended half of each wing? It was almost as if the finger bones that were normally present in a bird's skeleton still had additional muscles, **and** there was less preventing those parts of the wing from moving. A very interesting species indeed.

Perhaps I would work on learning about that when I was done discovering exactly how an absol senses everything. All I knew about **that** right now was that my horn had something to do with it. Certainly, feeling vibrations had something to do with the disaster sense, but as for the other senses… What about Sarah's heartbeat sensing only working when the person is near death? Or my mental map? There was clearly a lot to it.

I watched with a raised brow as Farell bashed his leek against the unconscious geodude's head twice more and then walk away proudly. "Well done so far, you three." I complimented the lot of them, being rewarded with happy smiles. "I would suggest looking alive." I continued, nodding to another pokemon walking in. Pokemon rates were low in this dungeon, but staying in one place was a surefire way to find some of them.

I waited fifteen more minutes, and the moment those twenty minutes had passed, I unleashed a night slash and blasted the remaining fully healthy enemy straight out of the room, where the geodude bounced unconscious into the hallway. This naturally stunned the three small members of their team.

"Constant vigilance." I quoted "Imagine, for a moment. What if I had been an enemy rather than an ally? What if you had ignored me because I had not bothered to move? While you were battling other things, if I was an enemy, I could have struck two of you before you turned around and the third before they registered the threat."

They continued staring at me, so I elaborated further: "Because you were not paying any attention to me whatsoever at that time, if I was an enemy, you would have been defeated."

"...Oh."

"So that is why I quote the term 'constant vigilance' from the fictional character Alastor Moody." I explained "And I may tell that fiction story some other time. The point is that it means to constantly be aware of everything when in a serious situation and be ready for anything."

"Okay."

"That was a good twenty-minute exercise for you, I suppose." I mused "Very well. Let us continue on in this short journey."

"Yes sir, Caleb!"

I could **not** help it. For the slightest moment, I almost failed to squash the slight burst of a feeling of premature self-importance. That would not do at this point. I needed to remain professional. Pride must be squashed.

"Then let us be on our way." I stood and walked out of the room. The stairs, as I had predicted because I had purposely traveled in a way that would land us in every room but the stairs room because I had glimpsed the stairs through a short corridor. The reason was that so this training room would be directly next to the staircase.

Multiple floor layers later, and quite suddenly the dungeon was gone. We had made it out and approached the summit.

I stopped as I crested over the ridge and onto the mostly flat peak of the mountain, and stopped. "Who's that?" Farell asked.

I silently took in the thinner black fur on her leg, the thick yellow fur starting at her waist and reaching upwards. I took in the white fur collar and the fox ears, and the large fluffy tail with a stick stuck in it. Her arms were crossed, and she had a smirk on her face.

"You three…" I muttered. "Turn around and retreat."

"What!?" Farell squawked.

"Yo." Braixen raised a paw in greeting.

"Why?" Zoom asked.

My eyes shadowed over. "Because she would defeat you. There is no guildmaster up here. In a tournament-related sense, the peak of this mountain is useless to you." I explained in a monotonous voice. "I, however, will now speak with her.

"Okay." This from Layla, and she turned away from the fire type and retreated, her team walking alongside each other.

When they were gone, I finished searching the floor. As I had suspected, there were magic circles **everywhere**. And they certainly were just the circles that were hiding the actual traps from both view and my absol senses. "Braixen." I greeted her stoically. "How were you aware of my primary destination?"

She smirked at me. "Trade secret," she said, shrugging in a careless gesture. My eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly.

"You have been outside the town before the tournament started up again." I realized "While the rest of us were resting, you were drawing magical traps, enchanted rings and circles over this mountaintop… Multiple mountain tops, I would wager, as well as some other random places."

"So far so good, genius." Braixen waved for me to continue with that irritating, haughty smirk on her face.

"I would wager that you first enabled the trap to hold the enemy for a period of time long enough for you to get to them and defeat them with spells from a distance, and I assume that you would edit the spells to cause them to alert your mind when activated. If someone was caught right now, would you bolt right now?"

"Oh no." Braixen gave a smirk that set me very much on edge. "I've got you."

I whirled to flee. I was not going to deal with magic today.

Or, perhaps, I was. As I spun, my horn alerted me to a huge surge of power all around me. Two lines of magic symbols glowed into existence, and every single circle copied themselves and appeared on my other side. She had reflected the trap and completely surrounded me by magic circles.

Braixen had trapped me. **Me**. Magic was beginning to irritate me.

"Right where I want you." Braixen freely stepped through the magic circles. They must have been keyed directly to me. I did not doubt it was possible.

"You are legitimately beginning to be irritating. Mind explaining what these circles do?"

Braixen smirked and spun her wand out of her tail. "It binds your position to my wand. Basically, it's a levitation spell. So I'm going to point this at you now before you activate one and get your face pressed against the floor and dragged to my feet. That would be unfortunate."

I gave her a deadpan stare. "Indeed."

"So. Are we gonna do this now, or are you going to stall?" she asked, gesturing to the magic circles with her wand.

I threw a night slash at her. I was not willing to play her game.

Braixen nimbly stepped aside and let it fly straight past her face. "None of that." she reprimanded me. "Warient!"

Her curse whined as it flew at me. I stepped aside, watching it land on the ground nearby me. Thorn-covered vines grew in a meter radius on the ground and they looked generally uncomfortable. I would want to avoid stepping on them.

I frowned. Braixen was keeping plenty of space between myself and her, so she could dodge my attacks. Trying to do so would be pointless. It would waste energy that I needed to have for later. She cast the curse several more times until I no longer had the room to move without injuring myself on these plants. Yes, my body was durable, but like with my attacks, it would be pointless to waste energy on avoiding the inevitable.

So when her next curse, a blue bolt of energy that lifted me up and threw me back hit me, I did not really bother to dodge it. I only flew back three meters before I promptly stopped in mid air and righted myself. I looked underneath me, seeing the glowing circle of magic symbols. I hovered there for a moment, but then Braixen pulled her wand back while it was pointed at me, and I felt myself being quickly pulled slightly closer to her.

"So let's do this. You've obviously figured out by now that I can't do anything about the guildmasters here. So here's the thing. See that little hole in the rock there?"

I did, and I remembered Jake and Swampert retelling the story in which Marill's brother, Azurill, was almost forced by Drowzee to try and enter. I could see right here that the hole was barely as large as my face. Not even Azurill could have fit in there.

"Thing is, nobody's ever been able to check until now." Braixen continued cheerily "But that's about to change. See, I've invented a wonderful little spell. Thing is, I can't use it on myself. Nor do I really trust anybody to help out if it goes wrong, so I needed a guinea pig."

I frowned. "Are you aware of what a guinea pig is?" I asked.

"Nope. It's just one of those phrases." she shrugged.

It took me thirty seconds to tell her exactly what a guinea pig was, after which she shrugged carelessly and brought me over to the hole in the ground. "I do not approve of you attempting to cram me into this place. You have no reason to believe there is actually any treasure in this place, and I cannot fit."

She grinned at me. "Not yet," she said.

I suddenly began to struggle. "You will **not** be shrinking me again!" I exclaimed.

Braixen blinked. "I totally didn't think of that option at all," she admitted, but her smile returned. "My way is more entertaining anyways."

 _More entertaining. I am somehow going to hate this more than being turned pint-sized._

She turned her wand on me, and helpless, I listened to her say 'guma tijelo'. The spell was pink colored, and it struck me dead on. I felt my body shiver as something happened to it, but I did not feel myself shrinking or anything else.

I frowned. I tried to move my legs, but something very strange happened. They reacted properly, but not… Perfectly. It was like they wobbled in place when I moved. I attempted to attack, but for some reason my night slash went very wide and struck the ground a full two meters to the irritating bipedal fox's left.

She caused me to hover closer, and grinned as she brought her unoccupied hand to my horn. I watched her warily, wondering exactly what she was going to be doing.

Then she pulled. My head didn't move. I felt a pull, but it was not very harsh. My senses started to violently fluctuate as I recognized just what the heck I was feeling. She pulled my horn in front of my eyes, easily bent into place.

I stared at it for a bit. Had she turned my body into a rubbery substance of some sort? Or was it simply that my body acted like rubber?

She let it go, and it literally wobbled back into place at the side of my head. I was mortified inside, but not badly enough that it showed on my face.

"Are you trying to tell me…" I growled, "That instead of doing the intelligent thing and making me small to do what you need me to do, along with asking **politely** , you decided to make my body malleable and just cram me into the opening?"

"Yep." she walked over to the hole with me floating behind her, my body's position in space still bound to her wand.

"This is ridiculous."

"No, this is **hilarious**." Braixen argued, pointing over to a set of little orange screens that had appeared. "Look, I'm even recording it so I can show it off later."

"Is this a game to you?" I asked.

She looked me in the eye. "Yeah." she nodded. "You do realize that this whole **tournament** is a game, right? That didn't escape our resident genius?"

"...I focus on many aspects of the tournament, and I have things I need to manage. Taking an active role in the future means abandoning the concept of fun." I claimed.

She rolled her eyes. "Your friends are right; You **are** the densest genius on the planet," she decided, positioning me somehow so that I was low to the ground and facing the hole. "So here's what we're gonna do. I'm going to stuff you in there until some extra magic I placed on you—don't ask how—tells me that you're at the end and lets me hear you. You're going to tell me what's in there, and then possibly grab whatever's in there, and finally, I'm going to pull you back out of there."

I knew I had zero choice in the matter now, so I settled down and wondered how exactly this would feel. There was no pain when she pulled at my horn, merely a tugging sensation. It was likely this would be reflective of everything I would feel here.

"Off you get." Braixen waved her wand and slammed me face first into the hole in the wall. The first thing I felt was my face being stretched as the sides of my head met the wall and I was squeezed into the small tunnel. Then my shoulders met it, and I started to feel myself stretching as my body tried to force its way in.

Feeling it occur in my legs was perhaps the strangest part. They were certainly **not** meant to bend that way. As they got squashed into my belly as I was pulled further inwards, I recognized that I did not need to be bothered about it. It was doing me no harm.

 _What on earth am I saying? This is me trying to act as normal and calm as I can, but I am being packed into this ridiculous tunnel like a sardine! When she drags me out of here I am going to wait until I can move properly and I am going to_ _ **attack**_ _._

Goodness, there was a legitimate anger burning in my chest. Perhaps it was the absol side of me.

The odd feeling of being treated like rubber was not one I would forget. Being stretched out in unnatural angles was not great. I wondered how well my muscles would respond while the curse was in effect. If I had to guess, I would say they would work, but I would have to teach myself to move properly again just as I did when I was cursed by Ninetales.

As an afterthought, I tried to summon a swords dance, manipulating the energy just as I have done several times over. I felt my aura energies shift as they do when I use the technique. I felt a burst of power. Hm. I suppose that I did not need the swords to have physical space to move.

I felt with my absol senses that I was approaching a small, semicircular opening in the tunnel, followed by nothing. I was finally pushed far enough that my face emerged into the open space. It snapped back into place for the most part, although the right side of my face was still in disarray due to my horn being pressed back.

Then my horn was released from the tunnel and flew back into position, wobbling as it was straightened. I searched the small room for items, and gave a long, dangerous growl.

"All for nothing, huh?" Braixen's faint voice asked. It was very muffled, but I could hear it. I growled louder. She decided it was probably safer for her to just drag me back out.

With my body unnaturally crumpled from being forced both forward and back, When she gave a final yank and drew me out of the stone opening, I popped rather suddenly back into my proper body shape. So suddenly, actually, that I popped up in the air about a foot as my legs snapped back to being straight. I turned to Braixen slowly.

"No good." She crossed her arms, looking at the hole. I tested my leg by pushing it. It gave in the wrong direction when I did so, my knee bending backward without any real pain. I wobbled on my legs for a bit, and then I started walking towards her. "Seems it was just some stupid rumor." she continued, turning to me and finding that I was free of her wand grip spell and that my face was about a foot from hers, even though I was shorter than she was.

She must have caught the look in my eye, because the moment she turned her head, she froze and started shivering. Were this any sort of animated show, I could imagine her vision of me with a slightly darkened environment and glowing red eyes that signified anger or threat.

"Uh… No hard feelings, right?" she said "I mean, you're not hurt or anything, haha…" she trailed off. I stepped closer. "Buddy? Pal?" she pleaded. My eyes glinted. She hadn't thought this entirely through, had she.

 **Boom-boom-boom!**

She stammered. "Oh-ho-kay, that looks like a stone edge. Since when have you had stone edge?"

I stepped closer.

"Got it, running now!" Braixen turned, but she would not escape me.

 **BOOM!**

I struck her right in the back with the large, curved blade made of rock attached to my horn, striking upwards with as much physical power as I could muster. She wailed as she sailed skywards: "I'm blasting off again!"

She disappeared in a glimmer of white light in the blue sky. I hardly cared where she would land. I turned away from the girl, shaking my head, and finding a low spot in the rocky surface. I then spit out my prize that I had been holding in my mouth.

It was essentially nothing, just a spherical chunk of silver with interesting markings on it. Hardly anything impressive, but it was a treasure nonetheless. I looked over at my bags, which I had brought with me and had fallen off when I was crammed into the opening. They were in such disarray, yet I still opened a pocket and plunked the item into the bag and then spent a good five minutes putting the set of packs on my back again.

As I turned to leave, I paused and glanced up at the sky again. What on earth had the girl meant by 'again'?

 **Θ Omniscient POV Θ**

"Hahaha!" the golden girl laughed loudly as she watched the braixen go flying in one of her odd magical windows. "It's funny every time!"

She whirled on the boy in silver clothing, who had the easily identifiable Phase and Shift in his arms and seemed to be cuddling them like a parent would; gently yet protectively. He looked at her, slightly startled "Play the other two clips!" Angelica exclaimed.

"Angelica, they aren't clips, or tapes, or-"

"Play. The. Clips!" Angelica interrupted, eagerly waiting. The boy hesitated before Phase and Shift in his arms floated out of them and circled him.

"Pretty-"

"-Please!?"

Hearing the two speak, he smiled softly and waved his arm, opening two rectangular windows in the air that showed two scenes. One of Braixen getting a monstrous mega punch uppercut from a rhydon and sent sky-high, and the other of Braixen being blasted by a dozen water pulses fired from an apparently aggravated group of water types. The first showed her sailing straight into the air. The second showed her blasting into the sky at a forty-five-degree angle.

"That's three for the count!" Angelica cheered, pumping her fist in the air. She then chuckled as she lowered her hand. "It's **so** funny watching magic people underestimate non-magic people."

"You are the Guardian of Magic." Kaigetsu reminded her, smiling. "Shouldn't you be **rooting** for your people?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Angelica rolled her eyes. "This is entertaining! Let's keep watching!"

⽕ **Sarah's POV** ⽕

" **I still can't believe I can talk again!** "

"I'm happy for you, Shedinja." I told him with a smile "but I am totally going to go deaf if you keep saying the same thing over and over."

" **Ah! Sorry… I just got excited…** "

"You're fine." I patted his shell comfortingly. "So where do we want to go first? We just kind of wandered out here."

" **...North?** "

"Works for me."

I got up and we started to move north. We had managed to 'wander' somewhere between the oran woods and the grasslands; We really had no plan whatsoever. So instead, Shedinja had been testing his new telepathy for the past few hours and saying lots of things he had failed to say before.

I was happy for the guy. It was just that it was hard to be excited with my heart yearning for Caleb's presence. Shedinja managed to bump me out of his trajectory when I found myself wanting to follow him, so I did not know where he ended up. And so we had been walking, but I hadn't been able to get my mind off of Caleb.

Things really seemed to be getting worse for me. And being obsessed before wasn't good for Caleb. Now, even fighting it, I was in a similar situation. It was hard to even recognize it as bad anymore. I needed this thing to go ahead and break apart before I lost it completely, and with the way it was accelerating, I didn't doubt that I would eventually.

I waited for ten minutes just reiterating the same thoughts over and over in my head until I stopped and looked around. My absol senses detected no other pokemon hiding behind the nearby things. I turned to the ghost type. "Honestly, Shedinja, I'm scared," I admitted.

He turned to me. " **Why?** "

"I'm losing control over this enchantment thing," I told him, confiding in him. "And the rate at which I'm losing it is accelerating. Pretty soon, I'm afraid I'm going to waste away all the work we've put in to try and naturally break this spell…"

Shedinja didn't answer for a bit. I assumed that despite his natural lack of expression, he was deep in thought.

" **Well…** " he replied, his echoing, dark voice sending shivers down my spine for no other reason that my body had a reaction to the ghostly aura he seemed to be emitting when he spoke. " **As far as I understand it, we keep saying that it will keep getting worse until it can't physically get worse. Then, you'll likely break free.** "

His body nodded. " **So at some point, we may have to restrain you for a while to see if that can help, if it gets too bad. Unfortunately, we can't do that because this tournament is going on. That means…** "

Then his voice seemed much more excited. " **I've got it. All we need to do is avoid Caleb in this tournament. We both know that this tournament will take ages to complete, at least this bit, so we should just stay as far away as we can from Caleb during the second part of the tournament.** "

"That… Sounds like it will work…" I responded slowly, "But how am I supposed to stop myself from trying to find him?"

" **I can help you with that** ," Shedinja suggested. I smiled at him, but the expression broke as I flinched.

"But out of everyone we've met, I'm the most qualified to beat you. If I lose control and try to get past you, can you stop me?" I pointed out, worried.

" **I think I can manage,** " Shedinja replied, his tone closer to the kind of tone people wear smirks while using. " **I can't tell you how** , **because that'd make it easier for you to deal with it.** "

I smiled. "Fair enough." I nodded. "And… Thank you, because I don't think I'll be thanking you later."

" **I understand, Sarah**."

Some of my worries alleviated, I worked hard to force my mind to go back to where we were going next. "North, we said?"

" **Memory issues, we thought?** "

"Oof…" I mimed being struck in the heart with my paw. "How long has your sense of humor been so…" I trailed off.

" **I occasionally make jokes to myself.** " Shedinja admitted, " **Besides, I joked around before I became a Shedinja**."

"Oh yeah." I remembered, "There was that time when we were about to meet Jake and Swampert and I was ready to go in mouth blazing, right?"

" **I think I tried to be funny at that point.** " Shedinja agreed as he began to move forward. I started following him. I figured that the desert would be an excellent place to find a guildmaster, as Quicksand Cave was difficult and I figured either guildmaster Flygon would be there, or Guildmaster Ninetales.

Now, we had needed Caleb to figure out how the guildmasters ticked and how to defeat them. But, he wasn't here, much as I wanted him to be. No, I was going to have to do the plotting and calculating myself.

I smiled to myself. I was capable. I was sure I was capable. I was getting better at chess, which was an intuitive game. If I treated this tournament like a game, chess or otherwise, the pieces would follow the rules and I would just have to make the rules go into my favor.

Then something occurred to me. Was that the right way to think of things? Thinking of everyone else like pieces wasn't doing them justice. They were living creatures, sentient and alive. I recognized that it wouldn't be kind of me to treat someone else like a tool for my success…

So why did Caleb do it? My heart was telling me that Caleb's way of thinking was… Was… I shook my head violently.

 _No. Caleb is perfect. Perfect for me, perfect for everybody he tries to help. I just wish he didn't hurt himself so much in the process…_

So what was I to do? Wrong or not, Caleb's way of thinking seemed to be very efficient. **Extremely** efficient. So efficient, after all, that he was advancing incredibly fast in society and getting exactly what he needed when he needed it.

Could I find a balance? Could I play this game in a calculative way and avoid ignoring what others feel about it? All of the moral things I was thinking of… They were restrictions to success. If I wanted to succeed while considering the feelings of others, which I wanted to do, I would have to be good enough to do it or accept defeat when I can't.

I **hate** accepting defeat. Unless, of course, Caleb was the one defeating me, because he's just so **cool** when he does it. So calm and collected, constantly and smoothly accomplishing what he needs to accomplish…

 _Focus._

So if I wanted to be 'moral', I would have to accept limitations to any success. Wonderful open doors would slam shut, and I would have to take more roundabout paths, and I wouldn't even be able to accomplish everything…

I wondered if I could get ahold of a guildmaster's treasure by asking politely.

I envisioned guildmaster Wigglytuff happily handing it to me. If we found Wigglytuff, that'd be easy enough.

I then envisioned Ninetales and any of the dragon type guildmasters hitting me with such an explosive technique that I was sent sailing into the sky and out of sight. I would have to get super lucky to meet Wigglytuff, and I figured that Flygon would be in the quicksand cavern.

So my next question was: What would fighting Flygon be like? I had watched some of his battles beforehand. He had activated Sandstorm almost immediately on multiple occasions, making it hard to even so much as see him. Then there'd been a hyper beam and an explosion…

But how had he lost? A team with a kingdra kept turning the sandstorm into a freaking mud storm with his rain dance, and then proceeded to use a powered up hydro pump into the ground and dragon type, which was basically unavoidable. After all the mud, it was the equivalent of Swampert's muddy water attack.

Because of Flygon's dual typing, water attacks would do normal damage to it. Still, water pulse was probably my best bet.

Then again, I hadn't seen that particular guildmaster use any attacks that Shedinja had used…

Holy cow, we probably had that fight in the **bag** if we met him. Shedinja would have to revive my physically weak self afterward, but Shedinja could beat that guildmaster down.

As Shedinja and I walked north, I wondered how Caleb was doing once again.

* * *

⽊ **Erza's POV** ⽊

"What a freaking day…" I muttered, leaning against a rock. The sun was setting. "So the meadow was obviously a bust, and so was the forest. Why oh why did I allow you two to drag me off to the easy places?"

My tangelo teammates gave me eye smiles underneath all of their vines, not bothering to answer.

"So maybe we got to deal with an ambush, that was fun," I admitted, before muttering: "Rhydon prick."

"You were so excited to fight something worth your time that you hurled yourself right at him!" The tangela said in unison, remembering the incident.

"You guys remember his eyes?" I asked, curling my leaf-like arm around my eyes to resemble larger circles. "That 'oh my god this was a mistake!' Expression?"

"Yeah!"

"That was before I jumped away from him, and he was barely standing, and then a freaking Braixen falls from the sky and onto his head!" I exclaimed, "both were suddenly out cold, and we suddenly feel awkward…"

Yeah, we hadn't known what to do about that, so we just kind of left them there to wake up. Then we did nothing of importance for the rest of the day other than walk for hours. I had figured that the lake trio girls would likely have a guildmaster at at least one of their lakes, so I was en route to the crystal cave. I would ask around at the crystal community.

The tangelo agreed with my words and plopped down on the ground to rest like I was doing now. Despite the massive KO steal from Braixen's unconscious skydiving that defied all explanation, I wasn't going to slow down on my path to the crystal cave. So what if like a third of the teams would be there? I'd fight through a third of the world's population, why the heck not.

But for now, sleep.

Or maybe I could attack the fool doing a terrible job of sneaking up on us, that might be a good idea. I summoned my weapons and snapped awake, vaulting over the nearest rock concealiing my newest foe.

 **Boing!**

My flail smashed into someone, who had approached from a more concealed location. That was probably an overreaction on my part, but come on. There were so many ways to come from right here that to walk up from over there had to be some sort of sneak.

But that was the **wrong** sound effect for me smashing someone in the side with a flail. I watched the absol literally bounce right off of the rock and land without so much as a yell at my feet. Wait… Absol?

 _Oh. Welp._

"Sorry about that," I told Caleb as I helped him up. "Try not sneaking up on me next time."

He got up rather easily and looked me in the eyes. "I have been searching out various pokemon and asking for a certain braixen's whereabouts," he explained. "This curse she cast on me has not worn off yet, and it has been several hours. I intend to force her to fix the spell."

"What curse? You look fine to me." I said, patting him on the head. I then blinked. My hand had bounced up almost as much as his head had gone down! "Uh… What?"

I leaned closer to Caleb's face, studying it. There wasn't any visible change, but…

"Erza." Caleb deadpanned.

I reached out and pushed my hand against his face. It **gave** , like some kind of stretchy material. I pulled my arm back, and his face pushed back into shape. "Well if that isn't the freakiest thing I've ever seen…" I muttered.

"Erza."

I patted the piece on his head, feeling it give rather easily. "Wow. No wonder my flail didn't hurt you. Wait." I crouched down and pushed against his chestplate. It too gave like some sort of stretchy material. "That is extremely freaky." I continued, circling around him.

"Erza."

I grabbed and bent his tail. "Hey, look! You've complained about the unnaturally stiff tail, as you called it." I commented, letting it go and watching it actually wobble back into position. I circled back around him and frowned at him contemplatively.

Then I grabbed his cheeks and pulled outwards and stretched his face out with total ease. " **Erza**." his voice contained a hint of a growl now. I let him go and watched his face snap back into place. "Focus. I need to get this curse nullified."

"Uncomfortable?" I asked teasingly as I continued testing the extent of this elasticity by pushing on his knee, watching his leg bend backward without Caleb making a single noise of pain.

"Yes." He answered honestly. "And if I find Braixen and learn that she has invented this technique without developing a proper counter curse before use…" his eyes shadowed over, and I couldn't help but shiver. Yikes, that wasn't a happy expression.

"Wait, was it you that sent her flying?" I asked. He nodded and raised a brow at me. "You KOstealing little bugger!" I accused promptly. "I was kicking some Rhydon's arse and suddenly an unconscious braixen falls from the sky and onto his head, and they're both down! I haven't gotten to defeat any decent foes all day!"

His deadpan expression told me exactly how he felt about my need to have a good fight. I grumbled and absently whirled my flail around in my left hand while I was thinking. "Anyways, it happened somewhere over there." I pointed with my free hand over to the southwest. "Need me to take a good swing and send you flying over there?"

"As much as my body's condition is amusing to you, I feel that you are taking it too far," Caleb muttered as he started walking off.

"Shouldn't you be getting some sleep?" I asked as he walked. I noticed he was coping with his legs not properly hitting the ground as his knees were bending wrong on impact.

"That, I imagine, is exactly what Braixen is thinking," he replied over his shoulder. I lowered my hand and stopped spinning my flail.

"So… That was a thing." I commented to my teammates. Then I sweatdropped. The two of them had slept through it all. Just typical. They'd have wanted a part of messing with Caleb's weird elastic affliction in some way. I'd tell them the story in the morning.

I did hope he would get it fixed, though. My flail had done basically nothing to him. If he was going to throw away an obvious combat advantage, who was I to complain?

* * *

⽛ **Daemyn's POV** ⽛

I could have sworn I was being followed.

Seriously, I kept smelling something, and then I would interrupt my traveling for an in-depth search of the surroundings, but finding zero eavesdroppers. And the smell would just be **gone** the moment after I sensed it. This was ridiculous. I haven't found any trace of my followers, and it was the second day already.

So I had a plan this time around. Because the presence left, the best thing to do was to set a trap for them. Enlisting Machoke's help, as he had managed to locate me amidst the mess of running pokemon before, we got to work. It was a forest, so we used some rope and made little nets near the ground and hid them between trees that had tall grass in between them. They would make perfect tripwires.

Sure enough, when we started moving again, we hurt vile cursing from behind us and bolted to the source. We got to the ropes, but… There was nobody there. The ropes had definitely been hit, as they were no longer attached to the tree as tightly, but the only thing left of the sneak was a patch of compressed grass where he had fallen.

I sniffed the patch of grass. Yes, that was a familiar scent. I had wondered when I would find out why Gallade seemed to be resenting me. "Well, it's Gallade all right," I said for Machoke's benefit.

"What should we do?" he asked.

"I think we should check someplace like Brine cave to the west. Stay closer to Treasure Town." I figured "I bet at least one of the closer dungeons has a guildmaster in there, expecting the strong teams to fan out far and wide."

"Sounds like a plan. So why did we start off in the Apple woods?" Machoke asked.

"Because it has trees with tall grass in between them for tripwires and I hate being followed without at least knowing the person."

"...Point." Machoke nodded. "Did you manage to see where Bastiodon went?"

"No. Remember, this tournament is only going to be won by one person…" I trailed off "Although I'm pretty sure teams aren't exactly going to be prevented from sharing the winnings if they so choose. It's remarkably lax."

"Wait, are we doing it as a team or as individuals?" Machoke rubbed his head confusedly, probably wondering if he was supposed to be pummeling me right now, and he clearly didn't like the thought.

"Honestly? I have no idea. We're winging it this time."

"That sounds like a **terrible** idea."

"This tournament is basically for fun, so why not?" I rationalized "Heck, not even Caleb cared very much about the winner of this part of the tournament, other than a few private agendas he has. You know how he is."

"Actually, **you** know how he is. He and I speak perhaps once a week." Machoke corrected me.

"You undersell yourself." I insisted, before smirking. "At **least** two times a week."

He snorted. "Then again, a good seismic toss might do you some good." He grunted jokingly.

"Please spare me." I mock-pleaded, and the both of us chuckled. A seismic toss would hurt like hell for me.

"So…" Machoke changed the subject. "What are you going to do about Gallade?"

"I have no idea." I admitted, "He's seemed angry with me since sometime after I met my parents, which is weird because he doesn't show any resentment towards Shedinja, who he looked plenty mad at after his defeat."

"Maybe he's just weird," Machoke suggested.

"Weird and after me." I muttered, "If it wasn't anger on his face, he'd progress to 'creepy'."

"Honestly, I thought you'd have just told him off by now." Machoke shrugged "You've been acting way differently since Caleb and Sarah showed up, so I guess it's not that surprising…"

I nodded as he trailed off. "You're right. I should have done that already." I agreed. "And I will… The next time I actually see him."

We walked on in silence for a while. I didn't catch a scent again for the next short while, which was somewhat relieving. Finally, Machoke couldn't take the silence anymore.

"It was fun watching Shedinja kick that guy's arse." he commented, "I always felt like there was something off about Gallade."

"Really?" I asked "I didn't feel anything off until Shedinja beat him, when he suddenly got pretty angry. And speaking of Shedinja, I never thought that guy would wind up being a badass in fights when I first met him."

Machoke looked at me. "Did you already forget how he saved the lot of us from defeat from an entire clan of electric types?" he asked.

I blinked. "Kind of?" I tried to salvage my situation, but instead found myself hanging my head in something resembling shame. "We just got done being separated from the world for a month, after all…"

"You are terrible at excuses." Machoke deadpanned.

"I know…"

"Like, awful. You need practice."

"I know…"

He chuckled, and I followed suit moments afterward. It was always so awkward trying to find conversation to make in the middle of a traveling trip unless something really spectacular had happened. I think part of the problem was that the first part of the tournament wasn't really that up in the air. Everybody knew Amber was going to win, and it wasn't much of a surprise that Caleb had not lost until he came across Amber in battle.

So something incredible would have to happen here. And I knew it would. Each and every team would probably have some interesting experience to talk about. On their trip. I'll bet Erza got to beat up massive pokemon, Caleb would somehow manage to outsmart the rules of the entire game, and Amber would probably do something ultra-spectacular. At this rate, my story would be being stalked by a mysteriously vengeful Gallade. Wonderful.

I found myself thinking of one of the many horrible things that Caleb had said when he was confused. Tuning him out was nigh impossible because my ears were awesome. Something about predators keeping an eye on future prey.

 _Bad Daemyn. This isn't the human world_.

I shook my head and we both moved on, putting our destination at the forefront of our minds. Perhaps it would be interesting to find someone there.

* * *

❊ **Amber's POV ❊**

We landed next to a cavern entrance, and I dropped off and looked from side to side. "Just us, Charizard…" I muttered.

"It's about time Absol and Ninetales had some time alone," Charizard smirked.

"Magnezone followed them." I piped up.

Charizard facepalmed. "Of course, he did." he grunted, "I wonder how many times the two of them are going to nearly admit their blossoming feelings for each other only to get a light electric shock."

"I wonder how long until the two of them find a way to ditch him after he does it the first time," I added, and then shuddered. "I hope he'll be all right…" I murmured in a quieter tone. "I mean, it's not likely he'll get lost, right?"

"The guy's got an internal compass like nobody else, other than a nosepass," Charizard assured me. "And if anything else, Magnezone's tough. Like, really tough."

I nodded slowly. "I guess I'm just worried for no good reason again." I supplied myself. Charizard reached down and patted me on the back reassuringly before he proceeded to join me in walking into the cavern.

"Geez, what the heck happened here?" Charizard asked aloud, looking at the destroyed ceiling and walls of the small cavern, along with the obvious rubble everywhere. There was a tunnel off to the side. I hopped up on one of the boulders and looked around the room.

"Someone went crazy here…" I whispered, jumping to a bare spot on the ground and looked around the rubble. Something caught my eye quickly as I stared into the boulders piled up nearby me.

"No kidding," Charizard muttered, and then he turned to smirk at me. "Well, it wasn't you and it wasn't me," he added in a joking tone.

"You aren't a crime scene investigator." I reminded him, putting my paw under one of the boulders four times my size and flipping it off the pile, looking down at the glimmer that had caught my eye.

"Neither are you." Charizard shot back "What are you looking for, anyway?"

"Just thought I saw something…" I muttered, pushing aside more boulders without effort and pretty much dropping into the pile of boulders that precariously stacked on top of one another, making a sort of mini-cavern that I could barely fit into. If it collapsed on me, it would be frightening, but I wouldn't be hurt.

I reached a paw out to the glinting object and slid it out from under a rock. It immediately lit up the instant I touched it, and I scrambled back in surprise. This caused me to bump against one of the boulders and to knock it aside with my tail.

I was then immediately pressed to the ground by a bunch of boulders falling on me. I shrieked out with immediate fear, curling up on pure instinct despite how invulnerable I was. Charizard rumbled in surprise and started shifting away rocks for about thirty seconds until he had totally uncovered me.

"Come on, Amber, it's all right." He picked me out of the hole and set me down gently. "You're safe. What on earth possessed you to go in there?"

"Th-that glinting object there…" I stammered. He leaned over the hole and reached his claw down, emerging with a small crystal between two of his claws. It had a soft blue glow to it. "It… Didn't look like that before." I added.

He frowned. "What did it look like to you?" he asked.

I shook my head. "I-I don't know… I only saw it for a moment and got startled…" I looked down at my forepaws. Charizard leaned over to hold out the crystal to me, his eyes promising safety and kindness as they always did. I gingerly took the crystal, holding it in my upturned paw. When it was touching Charizard, it had been blue. When it touched me, it went **nuts**. The colors on it changed rapidly, always sharing a dozen different colors at a time and generally flashing madly when I touched it. Everything but colors like red and black; those colors did not show in the mad flashing of the crystal. Instead, the color red was a minuscule glow directly in the center of the crystal. And black… Was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh no…" I murmured "I recognize this thing."

I looked around the room, echoes of battle sounding my ears courtesy of my imagination. "This must be where Caleb and Daemyn got infested by that dark aura… But Caleb ordered all of the crystal shards destroyed."

"This one must have escaped detection." Charizard grunted, "I don't like the way it's flashing around you."

"Me neither…" I agreed, dropping it. "We can put the tournament on hold for us. We need to find officer Magnezone, not our teammate, and turn it over. It'll probably be locked away with the rest of the remnants of the thing, or destroyed, but that's for the best…"

Charizard picked it up, watching it become a calm blue again, and sealed it in one of the pouches. "He should still be on duty. We'll head back to treasure town," he said assertively, and started to walk out of the cave.

"...Could I check on something first?" I asked. Charizard looked surprised, but I slowly walked over to the tunnel that led deeper inwards. The corridor opened into shadows, but had a light at the end of it. The entrance was heavily damaged from something slamming into it. I stepped through the rubble slowly while Charizard followed.

I came out in a very dimly lit room with an opening that faced where the sun would set. It was a very beautiful sight. At sunset, this entire cavern would be illuminated.

I shifted into my umbreon form to see better in the dark, and stilled. There was a small scorch mark on the ground. Miniscule, actually. Maybe where Palkia's portal had been?

There was an odd heaviness in the air. I realized it was just me, not the actual air, but… This had been the source of a **lot** of pain and regret. One little scorch mark on the ground marked a choice that, while good for the rest of us, was something that Caleb wouldn't let go.

And why wouldn't he let it go? Was it just sheer stubbornness? No, it was the need in his mind to remain human. To keep everything that had to do with his past in his mind.

And I realized then that someone would have to make him let it go. I wondered who possibly could change his mind. I doubted I could do it. Caleb would rather fix everything else and leave himself broken.

I shook my head. I've been thinking the same sort of thing about Caleb over and over when it became clear that he was hurting himself. Literally, it just kept popping into my mind whenever something around me had to do with him. I suspected the same was true for Erza and Daemyn and Sarah and everyone else. Caleb forced himself into the spotlight, the center point for every event that has occurred recently, and now he was all a lot of us could think about.

I felt myself calming down somewhat. I had Identified why Caleb was always on my mind, and I felt like I could maybe stop reiterating it in my head all the time. I would have to share that with the others. They would appreciate something to help reduce the stress.

"Okay." I nodded. "Let's go back to Treasure Town."

* * *

 **So all of that happened.**

 **I am going to put this out there: I regret NOTHING about making Braixen say 'I'm blasting off again'. I have been looking forward to that rubber scene since day one of TAC one. Seriously, I love messing with Caleb. Particularly because he's so easy to mess with.**

 **And when I wanted to make Erza a part of the situation, I just decided 'Heck, why not. Braixen's going to interrupt her fight. Caleb is indirectly a KOstealer now. It's one of those immortal titles that never goes away. And Caleb finally gets to use stone edge.**

 **Overall, despite the very odd spread of POVs and everything, I am happy with this chapter. Please tell me what you thought about the chapter in your review. Thank you for reading, and have a nice day.**


	22. Chapter Twenty Two

**Ugh...**

 **Jango: Well, everybody, Hyper is tired. Like, super tired.  
**

 **Me: This chapter kicked my ass.**

 **Jango: Yep, there it is.  
**

 **Me: I cut it off before ten thousand words because adding more just didn't seem to make sense. I can do a lot more with the next chapter, but for now, I owe you an explanation. Here's the thing: I have work now. On weekdays, and focusing on the story was tough during the weekdays. If this trend continues, my rate of uploading may suffer, but I promise, I PROMISE, I will not disappear.**

 **That all said, let's jump into reviews. Or rather, Jango will do it.  
**

 **Jango: Meh. Alright! Let's start the abnormally rude review responses! Phillip, ah, my first victim! Yeah, I hate magic too. It's inconsistent. Like, really inconsistent. You'll find that in this world, it's convenience incarnate. And you totally missed the one occurrence in which the farfetched, ledyba, and zigzagoon were introduced. Good job, mate. Good job.  
**

 **Jango: Since we're objectively and purposefully answering these out of order, let's go with... Nerdy! Let's go with Nerdy. Hello, Nerdy. That's kind of the point of Caleb. People want him to change, to grow out of the nonsense he spouts. Trouble is, the bugger's stubborn. Believe me, I know that very well. And as for the scythe, well, you see, that's a bit complicated. See, the whole point of the scythe's existence is [REDACTED], and that's important because [REDACTED]. Because [REDACTED], the scythe does, in fact, have something to do with the story. I hope that helps. (winks)**

 **Jango: Okay. Time for GGuy12345. Yes. Rubber Caleb is always a fun memory. As for the rest... You wish. That's the job of our annoying friendly neighborhood golden girl .**

 **Jango: Hokay! Time for our old and super absent friend Raven! Did I miss you? Hmm... I'm thinking... Anyways, yeah. Hyper goofed up over time, but hey. He's been able to scrounge up believable explanations. Hmm... I'm tempted to personally review your story.**

 **Jango: Next up... What Lies Beyond. Yes, yes, that was the whole point, to make Gardevoir's attachment to Amber obvious. I agree, Shedinja's awesome. Doesn't get in the way when I try to do something, but does when it's really threatening. Makes a great shield, him. Oh, you've got a mew with you. Haha... I remember getting in a prank war with a mew. (Does a whisper yell) I won!  
**

 **Jango: Djsorepsupon-three. That was a mouthful. Yes, review. Review, review, review. Feel the obligations pouring down on your head! Muahaha! (coughs) Anyways, Caleb's symbol is actually not the right hand, and I'm not gonna tell you what Shedinja's symbol means. Not gonna tell you what my symbol means either, and Amber's symbol is just her tetra element that she wears. You're gonna have to be more specific about which line of Braixen's made you go nuts.**

 **Jango: And West, who we usually cover first. Yeah, Hyper just put in keywords or definitions and decided to find single symbols that meant those things. Yeah... That's a thing. Hey, Hyper. If someone says something I've said, or something similar... And in a story sense I haven't said it yet, but in a character sense, I have said it, are they quoting me?**

Me: ...No.

 **Jango: Okay. Amber, just send Hyper to sleep or something.  
**

 **Amber: Okay... (Uses hypnosis)  
**

 **Jango: And here's where the short chapter starts. Get ready for things and stuff, everybody!**

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty Two: Wires**

 **Caleb's POV**

"Where are you, Braixen," I growled softly as I stalked forward.

I was **not** happy. In fact, I was ready to find that ridiculous bipedal fox and beat her into the ground and demand that she fix me. Erza's directions had proven useless; I found the rhydon, but he had no idea that a certain braixen had landed on his head and knocked him out.

The criminal prankster fox was beginning to get on my nerves. In fact, magic in general was. Goldeneye was a good representation of what I respected about magic; It allowed for anything to be possible, in spite of physics. Respect is not to say that I **liked** it. No, Magic was illogicality in energy form. It was like looking at one of those impossible pictures. Seeing a platform with a roof, but the supports showed that the roof was perpendicular to the platform despite the supports being in the correct places. Completely impossible, yet there. I can respect an impossible painting and the effort that would go into it, but I cannot enjoy it.

Braixen, and some others like Keron, demonstrated what I utterly detested about it. Magic is power, plain and simple. A person with magic is more likely to come out on top than a person without magic. And unfortunately, power in the hands of someone who does not use it well is potentially dangerous power.

In short, based on the few magic users I had met, it made them much more arrogant and willing to do whatever they please with it. Goldeneye was the exception. She used it appropriately, and calmly. She did not let her personal feelings about the power itself change her actions. Perhaps I did not meet enough magic users to supply a decent set of data, but I feared that I was beginning to notice a trend thus far.

After all, I remembered interviewing some of the magic users who had helped with the enchantments of the arena. They had sounded downright insulted and defiant when I questioned them on the physical limits of the enchanted wall that they had erected to protect the audience. They had insisted on the 'unbreakability' of the enchantment, despite the fact that Shade and Amber had cracked it repeatedly. When I pointed it out, one of the particularly haughty ones threatened to hex me.

I was glad that, having read the fiction story Harry Potter, I knew what he meant by 'hex'. I had seen it in a dictionary as well of course, but a story in which the word is commonly used is much more memorable. And recognizing this, I respectfully departed.

I had then approached a different group, to a similar result. They did not threaten me, and were more open to my questions, but were downright flabbergasted that those limits had been reached in the first place, and had insisted that they had made the enchantments better than that. They seemed as surprised as the audience that the enchantment was 'weaker than we originally built it'. I could tell from the expression of the pokemon that he was attempting to alleviate embarrassment rather than tell the truth.

Keron had tried to do the same thing to me that he did the first time he put runes on me when I asked him what kind of force would break the typical force field constructed by magic.

A certain human proverb, 'curiosity killed the cat' might apply when I decided to find out just how much force Shade was using in her strikes. In my defense, that information would have been greatly helpful in the future. In fact, the amount of force a magic barrier like that could withstand would have been an incredibly informative piece of data, as I could then use it as a control when gauging the strength of other things based on how much the shield yields when struck. That is merely one example, and that would be the simplest one.

Granted, I seemed to be a mix between a cat **and** a dog… And a reaper, but… I suppose I could still apply the 'curiosity killed the cat' proverb to myself. In a sense.

So I cannot have pretended to be surprised when Braixen chose the 'interesting' route when it came to forcing me to check what was within the peak of Mt. Bristle. I could have pretended not to have felt anger boiling in my veins after the entire ordeal, but I was rather happy with my choice to send her sailing into the distance, even making use of the literal 'spring in my step' as it were to increase the velocity of my strike.

I was less than pleased with Erza experiencing and acting upon the urge to mess with my body when she discovered what Braixen had done to me. Stretching out my face as if I was some rubber toy. It had not hurt. It had not even damaged my dignity by much, although Erza would milk this story **forever**.

No, I did not allow my dignity and pride to be damaged in my own mind.

I would, however, seek out Braixen and show what happens when I come close to (but not quite) losing my temper entirely. I did intend to intimidate her until she reversed the spell on me.

If she proved unable to reverse it, I am afraid a good reminder not to mess with me was in order. There was no crystal to amplify those negative feelings, so I would be fine. Braixen may be frightened after she woke up, but I would then be on my way to find Goldeneye.

 _I am getting ahead of myself…_

 **If** I found her, **then** I would intimidate her, and **if** she had not developed a counter curse before use of the spell, I would **follow** with a more violent action that would hopefully dissuade her from ever doing this to me again.

With my legs trying to bend backward every time I took a step, I had to be much more conservative with my movements and tread lightly.

I was used to walking like this at this point, but I had a slight apprehension due to the fact that I would have to get back into the habit of walking properly after this was all done.

I reflected on the fact that I was indeed becoming angry just thinking about this. Magic had steadily become more of an annoyance for me over time. Or rather, most of the magic users had. Perhaps it had something to do with the entire concept of 'anything a scientist can do, a magician can do better' that was getting to me.

Because if I was honest with myself, really, truly honest, I absolutely hated knowing that I was not physically capable of the best. That no matter how much I accomplished, there would always be an entire faction of pokemon that could outdo me with as little as a few words and the wave of a wand. It was demeaning, deprecating.

The only things that now held my resolve now were my need to remain human and the incentive that I could provide magic-like results through technology for pokemon that cannot use magic. Otherwise, my intellect and experience would serve no purpose whatsoever. I feel that was what hurt most of all in regards to the presence of magic in this world.

 _Get ahold of yourself._

Was I truly succumbing to anger and frustration? How pitiful of me. Yes, I needed to find Braixen. I had angrily blasted her into the sky, something unfit for someone who had as much patience as I was supposed I have. I suppose I had been set off by the ease of which Braixen had bested me using magic.

Nevertheless, I needed to intimidate the bipedal fox into curing me of this curse. If she could not, it would still be beneficial to attack her, as it may dissuade her from doing such a thing to me again.

I was coming up on a crevice between a lot of boulders. These trails between the mountains often managed to stay open somehow even in the face of shenanigans like this, where rockslides just manage to leave an almost perfect gap in the trail. Why must this world be so illogical and convenient?

I succumbed to human pessimism and leapt atop the boulders instead of walking through the unstable-looking crevice.

It worried me that 'submitted' was a reasonable term to use in how I considered my choice. I did not want it to be. Anything human I could do I should do.

As long as I also did not dismiss my remaining high-end instincts, I can maintain my humanity without suffering headaches.

My musings were interrupted by my mental map of the area provided by my senses. There was a jolteon and a smeargle behind a pile of boulders, and they seemed to be speaking. I quickly tested the extent of the suppleness of my legs and calculated how slowly I should move to sustain stealth.

And then I looked at the rocks. The smallest was roughly the size of my head; I must avoid those in an attempt to be silent, as they would shift. The largest was directly in the middle of the pile, and several times my size. Climbing to the top of that would not enable me to remain hidden and still watch. I would need a more inconspicuous location.

My eyes focused on the cluster of rocks that were smaller near the top in what resembled a poorly constructed gap between two elevated sections of a castle wall walkway. One from which arrows may be fired. Only the stones at the top would be shifted by my weight, which I estimated to be less than my human form's weight.

I carefully stepped up the rocks up to this hole in the top of the pile, and basically just looked through. I could duck away relatively well here.

"This is gonna be the best idea **ever**!" the jolteon exclaimed.

"I keep telling you, I don't know if you really want me to paint you with paint that won't wash off." the smeargle voiced his concern.

"Then I can just ask you to paint me the right color later, right? I mean, I'm a jolteon. I'm yellow, white, and more yellow." the jolteon pointed out.

"This is true, I guess. You know I'd be happy to help out. Just tell me what you want me to do." the smeargle held his tail with the brush on it between his front paws.

This was rather interesting. I admit that I was willing to watch this play out. After all, I only had a general direction that she traveled in. It could be many days before I found the irritating fox once again.

"So before I add any other colors, I need to be totally white first, got it?" the jolteon said. White, hmm?

The smeargle's green covered tail tip turned white and he began spreading the paint onto the jolteon's fur. Not only must it have been passive magic, but the paint itself seemed to hold unrealistic properties. It soaked into the fur of the jolteon and perfectly seemed to recolor the electric type without residual paint being left afterward.

This was a better side of magic. The smeargle was prepared to mention possible drawbacks to his comrade, and the pokemon was using it without focusing on how perfect it was. I nodded silently at the sight.

Once the jolteon was completely white with the exception of his black eyes, he looked over himself. "Great!" he exclaimed. Suddenly, he ran a few laps around the little area the two had found. His speed was very impressive. He must have trained in running constantly and paid little heed to everything else to attain such speeds. His aura energies may have little tenacity in the face of physical strikes or a lack of stamina, but in the meantime… If no person could catch you…

"Now, I need that little red 'M' symbol. You remember which?"

I quirked an eyebrow. That was pretty clear to me.

The smeargle gave an 'ahhh' noise. "That's what you're doing. I getcha." he nodded, and the color of the paint on his tail turned red. Slowly, carefully, he drew a thin and small yet recognizable 'M' shape on the jolteon's forehead. As the color melted into the jolteon's fur, he grinned.

"This is so awesome." the young pokemon proclaimed "Wait'll everybody sees! They all loved that movie thing that Caleb showed us. I've decided on a nickname for myself! I'll be Speed!"

I gave a small smile. Children were always heartwarming to witness in action. It was also gratifying to be reminded once more just how much of an impact I had on this world.

"Whoa whoa whoa…" Smeargle waved his arms about frantically. "You remember that Speed was the name of the character right? But you've got the car's design."

The jolteon blinked and looked at his white fur. "Oh yeah, I guess I do." he nodded. "Okay, let's go with… Mach, then. How's that."

"Now that's a good nickname." Smeargle agreed.

The jolteon and his friend started traveling again. I continued smiling. That entire scene had been very beneficial to my mood. It also allowed me to rethink my train of thought in terms of Braixen's actions. Magic was power. It was neutral, but it was still power. Power tends to corrupt, but in this world, it seemed to never get worse than haughtiness and a feeling of superiority. Discrimination from magic folk to the average pokemon was nonexistent.

My mind flashed with confusion for a moment. If this magic phenomenon was so powerful and had such a high potential for corruption, why was it that outward discrimination was nonexistent for magic, but in terms of color, like Sarah's experience, she was subject to such things? Or was Sarah an exemption to the lack of discrimination when combined her fiery and emotional personality coupled with her color in a society that operated the exact opposite of her?

I shook my head. I needed to get back to finding Braixen and healing myself of this horrid curse I was placed under. Being made of rubber-... Well, I was not made of rubber. My body was cursed to react as if it was made of a stretchy material. It was nice watching the children taking after a good fiction story in a game of sorts, but this predicament I had landed myself in had to be resolved.

So I clambered down the rocks carefully, wary of how my limbs interacted with the stones underfoot to ensure that I would not find my legs unnaturally bending in a way that would unbalance me and send me toppling to the ground. Honestly, I would have most likely bounced like a rubber toy, but I had my dignity to consider.

So I moved on, continuing to travel. I honestly did not know when I would catch Braixen, but I felt I needed to do so before I was reacquainted with large groups of people. I blinked as I considered it. That felt surprisingly like I was fearing embarrassment.

Then it clicked, as it had done before. Reputation was everything when a person was accumulating political power. For some reason, I had to keep reminding myself of that. Was I failing to maintain my humanity to an extent that I had to remind myself of how I was best to achieve my goals?

The mountain pathways seemed devoid of annoying braixens. I recognized that these paths could lead in just about any direction, so I just started searching the ground for signs of travel. It was a path; the less used paths are the paths I would take. Braixen would be taking measures to avoid me, and if she could think ahead, then not only would she trap the major roads, she would follow the path that she had not trapped.

I eyed the ground for magic circles, particularly wary of lines that might mirror the encompassed circles. I would never fall for that trick for the remainder of my one hundred- year-long life. I swore it. I stalked along the path for a solid hour, finding no traps of any kind and refusing to rely on my absol senses because of Braixen's particularly obnoxious absol sense blocking circle.

At this point, her repertoire included summoning large vines with thorns, various spells for moving people around, magic circles to accomplish basically any task as long as appropriate time and thought is put into it, and now experimental spells that may or may not have proper cures generated.

I blinked, realizing I had nearly forgotten that she could shrink me as well. That would be irritating, no doubt. Becoming pocket-sized once more would not only be unfortunate, it could prove dangerous if she left me out there, and I would be forced to tag along with Braixen or another pokemon that passes by.

I continued walking. At this point, I was beginning to recognize the likelihood that I would have many days like this; Walking without incident through the mountains in search of an annoying Braixen, some vengeance, and a magical cure. Although, if I found Goldeneye, I trusted her to cure me, or try to find a way to do so.

But as it turned out, There would be an incident today.

I heard a violent loud noise and fearful yelling. Instantly I began sprinting in the direction from which it came. I rounded yet another pile of rocks and stopped cold.

My absol senses told me something very different from what I was seeing. I saw a sandshrew and a sandslash cowering in a clearing, opposed by a large monstrous creature. My eyes widened further than normal. I recognized it. It's form and color… It was similar to the dark creature I had become that Sarah described. Then, I registered that its specific shape was exactly as Daemyn had described it.

Then, like a wave, the orange glowing hexagons flickered into existence from one point and disappearing as the ring of interlocked hexagons moved across the mostly invisible barrier. That some was what my absol senses were telling me was there.

The origin of this wage was an extremely familiar jolteon. "I'll get you out of there! I promise!" He exclaimed, slamming it with a volt tackle again and merely bouncing off, clutching his head with a paw afterward.

I bolted forward, analyzing the situation within a few seconds. Daemyn told me that Darkrai had pulled him Out of the trap he experienced before with his shadow sneak attack, but I did not have Shedinja to try as do the same. I had to break this barrier.

I stopped. "Mach, back away from the dome!" I shouted authoritatively. He white jolteon looked over at me, startled.

"Whoa, Caleb?" He recognized me.

"Do as I say! We don't know how dangerous this can be!" I exclaimed, and Mach obeyed the command. I looked at the invisible dome, and the two Pokemon cowering before the monster that advance on them. They looked injured. They had already been struck once or twice.

The field had many obvious properties, like bouncing Mach back. It would do the same to my attacks, but to what limits?

I threw a psycho cut at the dome. As I predicted, it slammed against the shell and suddenly blasted directly back at me. As I had predicted that result, I had chosen a technique that would not hurt me if it was rebounded. It blew right into me and disappeared into my predominantly dark type aura. As my horn finished wobbling back into place, I stepped closer to it.

"Whoa, what's up with your horn?" Mach asked.

"Not the time." I pointed out, and started building my stone edge attack. Thankfully, the rock did not bend like my face was doing trying to hold it up. In fact, if I built up momentum during my swing, I may have been able to accomplish more force due to this elasticity.

I leapt at the dome, aware that this action would have been dangerous if my body was not going to be completely unharmed, even if I got stretched by the blast, I would pop back into shape. I rammed the incredibly powerful rock type attack straight into where I had recognized was a crack between two hexagons. There was a loud noise resembling glass being struck, and I saw the surface appear before me and crack even as I bounced off of it and my stone edge fell apart.

It further broke down, confirming my hopes. I had not known whether the dome would continue to break or if I would have to strike it repeatedly. It broke into pieces and the dome faded away into the air, as did the monster that Daemyn had been assaulted by.

Immediately, the sandslash and sandshrew collapsed, shivering. I bolted forward, as did the jolteon Mach and his friend the smeargle, who had been somewhere out of sight initially.

"Ma'am, please remain calm." I instructed, "You are safe now."

"We… We couldn't move…" she whispered "My child… Are you all right?"

The sandshrew peeked up at his mother, who was hugging him. "I'm okay, mom," he said, shivering. "What was it?"

"I don't know…" the sandslash closed her eyes for a moment.

I looked around while the two calmed down. They had likely been mentally and physically shut down like Daemyn had. Now I just had to figure out what it was that caused that. They needed to recuperate. I busied myself with my absol sense, delving deep into my surroundings for find the source of this frightening experience.

I blinked. There was absolutely zero magical energy. None. Nada. I frowned and started padding about around where the dome had touched the ground, and I started clawing at the ground. I could sense a physical object within the ground.

That puzzled me, but I started looking closer. My absol senses were detecting open spaces in the ground, not the physical objects specifically because they were very well buried. However, what I saw was very, very strange. Strands of something within complex boxes that contained many different connecting pieces…

Not strands…

 **Wires**.

There was a technological creation underneath my feet. I could hardly comprehend it. Why was it that there was technology? And judging by the five other boxes equidistant to each other around the circle, it was very much responsible for the extremely strange trap that defied explanation. If I could just look at the machinery, perhaps I could extrapolate how it created this shell of energy plates and the fake monster.

First, I needed to get it out of the ground, and with my claws bending away from the dirt, that could take days for me. Thankfully, coincidentally, I had saved two expert diggers. I turned my gaze on them, finding that Mach the jolteon had helped them calm down. I nodded to him with a silent thank you, and approached the two ground types.

"I understand that you have just been through a traumatic experience." I bowed my head for a moment. "But I have just discovered something very strange about this trap you landed in."

"Strange?" the sandslash asked.

"Yes. This was not done via magic." I said. "My absol senses allow me to make mental maps of my surroundings. I can sense open spaces in the ground that are very peculiar and seem to be sealed containers within them. If I am to determine their origin, I must study them. In my current state, I cannot dig very well." I demonstrated by bringing a paw up and pushing at my own horn for a moment, letting it wobble back into place. "The inconvenience of this magic curse aside… I would be grateful if you were to help me unearth these things."

The two seemed to consider it. My professional aura was one to persuade, as I already knew, but I had made it clear that it was their choice. I had however given implications that the best option would be to do as I asked.

"...Yes. We will help." Sandslash decided "if only to help prevent this from happening again."

"I appreciate it." I nodded. "Now, I feel that some of the things around the boxes I speak of may be very fragile. The boxes are in a ring, with. One over where I will now stand."

I walked to the location where the buried object was. "We must be wary of accidentally breaking something. I fear that I need this system of objects intact if I am to determine its use properly."

The ground types nodded, and Mach spoke up. "I'm sorta confused, but I want to help!" He exclaimed. I nodded to him, and e and his smeargle friend began helping as well.

It took twenty minutes of careful digging before the top of the first box was made available to me. It was metal, and legitimately looked welded together with hinged doors on the top to access the inside.

This was wrong. It was all wrong. Technology was nonexistent in this world, to the knowledge if all, and yet here was or example of technology right under my feet, and another in the forest where Daemyn's parents live.

I tried to slide my claw into the crack in the sealed doors, but my claw just squashed against it. Grunting, I let the helpful sandslash assist me with it.

"Woah… What are those?" The smeargle asked.

"Wires," I explained grimly. "Wires I had no hand in."

"You mentioned them once… "Weren't they a human thing?"

"Yes." I nodded "which is why right now, I am very confused."

Sandslash looked at me, her expression one of surprise. Right now, I had the world thinking that I rarely, if ever, got confused. That was good, but it would be better to allow a slight margin of error.

But what error? Why am I suddenly finding very well crafted pieces of technology in the ground that not only mimicked human technology, but… Improved on it.

My eyes narrowed. The inventor would also have to be aware of the dark energy that transformed Daemyn and I.

"What will you do?" Sandslash asked.

I was silent for a moment. Then I made my decision. "I need to unearth the rest of this." I declared. "It would be unfair of me to ask you to continue working on this, Sandslash, as you as your child were just attacked."

"Then I will volunteer myself." Sandslash declared, patting her child's head while the sandshrew nodded quietly. "Because if you discover the identity of the person responsible for mindlessly setting a trap that could frighten a child, I would like to be there."

 _I am suddenly less worried that I am not the one who made this._

Regardless, it did worry me that a random piece of technology was just sitting here In a world where those do not exist… Yet.

We got back to digging, taking a break two hours later for food. The set of devices were complicated, and surrounded by small pipes probably protecting more wire between them. Brushing the dirt away from the smaller parts of the devices was the most challenging, although it did actually make use of my rubber-like body.

I pulled my claw through a narrow gap between some sort of orange plate facing upwards on one of the pipes that spanned the gap between two boxes, and the pipe itself. The pipe was littered with these plates, which flickered with light. My claw squeezed into the narrow gap, squishing to get in, and I brushed out more dirt.

"For someone who portrays themselves as a genius, you don't know when it is time to stop and eat?" Sandslash asked, handing an apple to her son.

"I stopped," I muttered in reply, only half concentrating on the ground type, focusing on pulling more dirt away from the pipe and the hexagonal plates. Digging in the manner if a dog felt very strange to me personally, but it was working quite well all things considered,

"Stopped to give us food." Mach nodded behind me "kinda thought you'd take some or yourself."

"...I am worried that someone is playing with something they do not quite understand." I admitted, moving onto the next hexagon plate and staring at it.

"That is no reason not to eat, young man." Sandslash scolded me.

I sighed, looking at the cracked plate before me. "I just found something. I'll eat afterward." I promised. I looked up at the ground before me and recognized the layout of the land. This cracked plate was directly under where I had struck the energy plate of the dome beforehand. If I fixed this plate, the system might run again. Not, of course, that I would do that.

I forced myself to turn away and get some food out of my packs. Setting them directly on the dirt, the curse of being a quadruped, and eating an apple, two oran berries, and savored the pecha berry of course.

Despite savoring the pecha berry, I did eat faster than I normally do so that I could get back to my studying this buried weapon.

And so I did. The others were finishing their food, but I was still analyzing and memorizing the design of this device. Remembering that the dome was not blemished in any way, and seeing the orderly form of these plates, I was convinced that the rest of this device was exactly like this. Judging by the angle that the two pipes uncovered were making, the device itself was also a pentagon. This was helpful because everything around me was in a pentagon shape with the exception of the basic piping and metal boxes to protect wiring from the elements. It would make it much easier to recall.

Nevertheless, it would be easier to study this entire device if it were completely uncovered. And removed from the ground. I was human. I was investigative. I was serious. I was in control of my life. I did not sit around and wait for something to happen to me, and I did not waste time striving for pointless things.

I closed my eyes for a moment, reminding myself once again that I was human. This machine was no toy. It was dangerous. And it was a machine that belonged in a world like my old one. It also looked years ahead of the typical device in my old world. Whoever designed this was most likely one of the psychic types that had elevated mental capacity.

There had been many pokemon at the different speeches and entertainment sessions I had hosted. If a pokemon had seen some of the technological items that were present in the movies and tried to make their own versions of it… They may have been able to discover how to use metal wires like copper in the creation of wires, therefore learning how to harness electricity for multiple purposes.

I raised my head to look towards where I knew Treasure Town was. When this part of the tournament was over, I was going to have to give a speech to any pokemon that would come to listen to me. Pertaining to the importance of contacting me if any pokemon desires to try their hand at creating technology, and to warn them of these traps and the possible danger they pose.

It should not be too difficult in a world where the best interests of everybody was a common goal.

We continued working until the entire object was unearthed. "It was built right here." I declared."

The sandshrew child looked at me oddly. "How do you know?" He asked slowly, directly speaking to me for the first time.

"See these pipes?" I patted one of the pipes covered in hexagonal plates on top. "they are fragile. Bending them would prove a mistake, particularly under the weight of these boxes that I have not determined the purpose of yet. Whoever designed this trap has to have spent hours digging a pit just like we did here, building the trap and then spending time burying it again. The system would have had to be carried in more manageable pieces and assembled."

"Oh…"

"Furthermore…" I continued "the device is too large to be manufactured secretly around these parts. These are mountain paths with few hiding spots, and very few that can fit more than one small pokemon. It would be completely impractical to build one out here, meaning they must have been transported in a more manageable way. I would not believe someone who could design something so advanced would make such an impractical decision.

"This 'technology' seems very dangerous if used improperly," Sandslash muttered.

"I am inclined to say the same of magic," I replied shortly, unwilling to continue that conversation. "You four have been quite a bit of help. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Glad to help!" Mach exclaimed, "Smeargle, you coming along?"

"Sure." the pokemon nodded, slowly walking away. His jolteon friend kept speeding ahead and doubling back as if he had just had the maximum amount of caffeine. When I turned away from watching them walk away, I found the sandslash and her son remaining there.

"What if this happens again?" she asked.

I looked down at the ground. "Do you remember the ground's layout?" I asked her.

"Yes. We walked into a patch of bare dirt, and this occurred."

"Exactly." I nodded. "Because the person initially had to dig a hole and refill it once the device was underground. This means that they would have to leave a place bare of any grass. I would advise staying away from places in which the terrain would look no different with something buried in it, like the desert. Water should be just fine, although I recognize the irony in that in this case. I say water is fine because this machinery is **not** designed to be waterproof."

"What makes you say that?" Sandshrew asked.

"The electronics can be damaged in water, and can malfunction. Water gets in the way of the flow of electricity, and causes a discharge that damages the wiring, permanently destroying the equipment. Because the boxes and the pipes are not sealed together, and water can flow in." I explained.

The two nodded. "Thank you again, for everything," Sandslash told me as she began to lead her child away. I nodded and turned away from them, watching with my absol senses as they departed. I closed my eyes. Something was off. I did not feel right.

Then it clicked. My actions. My mental state. I was frantically trying to find a way to remain human mentally despite the social customs in this world. That was what felt strange. I felt a flash of frustration go through me. Staying human was not supposed to be strange. It was supposed to be natural for me. But the actions I was taking to do that felt odd.

That meant failure.

I do not fail.

I glared at nothing for a while. I needed to get it together. I could not chase Braixen down like this. I had to study and memorize every single aspect of this device.

So I clambered over the system, careful not to break it. Thankfully, my elastic nature made it easier to soften the impact because the force was applied over a longer period of time, reducing the impulse created by my footsteps and therefore reducing the possibility of breaking the parts that I stepped on when I was forced to stand on something to get a better view of something.

The first thing I did was open one of the boxes properly and start analyzing the wires. Now, illusions were not the correct interpretation of what this device clearly did. As this thing was completely buried, there were no projectors or any such thing. Furthermore, the beast inside had physical force behind it, just like the outer shell.

That meant that the beast generated was the same energy as the dome itself. Inside the boxes were many complex devices that were lit up and had no clear purpose. I would have to cautiously remove one at a time and study them closely.

I began to wish I had already devised something along the lines of a magnifying glass, specifically one I could actually use despite being a quadruped.

 _Ah. That has all the appearance of a battery. Different, but substantially similar._

I pushed my claw towards one of what looked like a basic screw, a sensible similarity due to the usefulness of the design itself. It was not like any that had been developed in the human world to my knowledge, but it was still clearly a screw. I grunted in annoyance when I pushed my claw into the slot on the object and found that it just squeezed back out again when I twisted my paw. I would not be able to safely take this object apart until I had the appropriate physical traits.

Registering this, I shifted my attention to the wires that connected to the pipes. There was residual dirt where the pipe met the box, but not an immense amount. Not enough to hide the wires from me. As it kept doing, my rubbery status continued to prove both useful and insufferably annoying, as I could safely move the wires with my claws because they were not properly sharp, and yet I could not shift the connected metal pieces that were heavier and were connected to the device.

 _Curses… If only there could be two of me. One with a rubber body and one without._

I shook my head. While having a conversation with another version of me might prove entertaining, the chance of that spontaneously happening to me was essentially zero. Not technically zero, because magic was a thing and I was not incredibly certain that it would not strike. Magic had a habit of causing unnecessary complications.

 _That was not entirely fair. Many magic users I have learned a lot from, whether they were rude, like the constructors of the protection in the arena, or kind and immensely helpful, like Goldeneye, who has earned my respect._

The power obviously went through these pipes directly to the plates, and those plates, not that I could see it right now, likely had some type of programming, some type of miniature computer. I had no doubt that there was some degree of programming, as the technology for the reflective dome did not exist either.

 _Whoever designed this system has quite the imagination and the ingenuity to back it up_ _ **.**_

Finally, I determined that the system had to cause the dome generated to actually generate the monster itself. That was how the entire system could stay underground. The plates nearer to the surface would generate the dome, and the dome would do the rest. From locking down the victim's mind and body, as Daemyn described, to generating a physical representation of a literal monster.

If this was not a world of happiness and good, I would have immediately assumed that this entire system was built with malignant intent.

I moved to the cracked plate, recognizing that a single flaw in the system would render it completely inoperable. The energy representation of the dome and the plates themselves could not possibly directly match each other, not a chance. Instead, the energy fluctuations I had created by disrupting the dome had likely caused an overload in the system, destroying this plate and thus destroying the entire dome.

It had cooled by now, but I was under the impression that if I had touched the plate immediately after its destruction, it would have felt warm or even hot. There was dirt in the cracks, which was unfortunate. I could not force it out even with my rubbery claws, as the cracks were so haphazard.

This plate was completely unusable. Thus, I felt safe taking it off. If I wanted to recreate it to study it and therefore discover how it can be fought, or how the programming could be changed, I could study an operational plate and replicate it enough times to build a new system. In fact, if I wanted to turn this into a safe tool to study the system, I would have to replace all of the plates with newly reprogrammed ones anyhow.

After I took it off, I looked at the complex, computer chip-resembling rectangle that the wires inside were connected to. Again I marveled at the complexity of the piece, as that information should not have been available to most. My best educated guess at the moment was that an extraordinarily smart pokemon took inspiration from one of the things I spoke of or showed, and then did the rest themselves.

I wondered if this person was any good at chess.

I continued to search for as many small details as I possibly could, memorizing them and studying them. It was Unfortunate that I did not have an example to my knowledge of what happened to a Pokemon if they were defeated by this technological terror, because until I got **that** , I was unable to understand the motives of the creator,

I needed to put more thought into this.

 **Erza's POV**

My tangelo teammates wanted to find Caleb and test out his new 'squishiness', as they called it. I guess I really didn't know how old those two were.

Fortunately for Caleb's sanity, he was not anywhere near us. I was on my way to the crystal cave, followed by the crystal crossing. In fact, I was almost there.

The day had been turning pretty surreal for me so far.

First, my tangela teammates were acting oddly. I hadn't noticed it until the second hour, but they weren't hopping about at all. In the third hour of this, I was starting to get annoyed.

" _That's it, I feel my usual self coming back."_ I had thought, putting more consideration into the use of my flail than the philosophy I was starting to fall into. Seriously, once you start on philosophy, it's really freaking hard to stop. My flail hand was twitching after the third hour was halfway through.

"Oh, will you two stop acting so **gloomy**!?" I exclaimed, making them jump. "I haven't a clue what's up with you, but I'm getting antsy being anywhere near you! What on earth is happening!?"

They perked up instantly. "Yay! Erza's back!" they shouted, making me blink in surprise.

"Uh…?" I muttered

"You were acting really weird back there. It's been getting weirder for **days**." they continued.

I wondered again how they knew when the other was going to talk, so that they could mimic each other so perfectly. And I wondered why they had the same voice as each other. What kind of practice did this take?

Then I smacked myself in the head. "Oh, you're talking about how I'm over thinking things a lot." I agreed, thinking about it. "Yeah, I guess it's a bit weird when I think about it, but I've just been doing it."

"It's that Caleb guy that's always on your mind," they said by way of explanation. Before I could nod, they shifted about. "He kind of forced himself into the spotlight or something. Everybody's always talking about Caleb this, Caleb that. It's practically like he's hypnotizing people without using any powers at all."

I frowned. "Well, I know he's done a lot of impressive things, but you guys make it sound, like… Evil." I told them "He's all people talk about because he's winning everything and doing it in ways that people really didn't seem coming. What do you think's gonna happen if you pop up out of nowhere and suddenly start doing everything right?"

They nodded.

"I mean, I get that he can sometimes steer us in the direction he wants us to go in and change our minds, but he always does it using reasoning that really sounds like it makes sense. I mean, I've been all over the place mentally for a while. We know that."

They nodded again.

"And… Well…" I trailed off. "Uh… I was pretty consistent before Caleb showed up, but I wasn't really the best. And then… Well, I guess I kept seeing people act differently around me if I acted differently, but every time I acted different something felt off…"

The tangela twins watched as I was left blinking. Not moving. Emptiness started growing in the place where I never really look, where the eyes can never physically look.

 _No no no no…_

I drew my rapier and threw it into a nearby tree, where it slammed point first into it and quivered there. The violent act helped drain the emptiness. I was a fighter. I fought. I attacked what or who I didn't like and bantered with those I liked. Being strong was me, myself, and I.

And the fact that attacking a random, innocent tree felt kind of relieving spoke volumes. "Okay." I nodded. "That felt kinda good."

"That's the Erza we know!" they exclaimed.

I nodded firmly. "Alright, guys." I said, "Let's go."

I let my blade fade away, leaving a pierce mark in the tree but nothing else. That whole situation was kind of like a little switch being hit in my head. The kind of 'shut up and do what you're supposed to do' kind of switch. Messing around with philosophy was not like me.

And I was going to crystal crossing to take down whatever guildmaster was likely there and retrieve a treasure. That was what I was going to do.

"...And you two implied Caleb was the manipulative one." I muttered. They giggled in unison and followed me.

We walked on. By the time of my outburst, we had been quite close to the place, and seeing the crystals forming on the cave entrance was quite gratifying. Shame I would be out of the sun now. I was really beginning to feel energized walking around in the summer heat.

I started out the dungeon by smashing my flail against a dungeon cranidos. "Let's go!" I exclaimed towards the unresponsive dungeon Pokemon that advanced towards me.

My tangela stood back and watched as I started bashing faces in and slamming enemies into the ground.

It was shockingly therapeutic. I haven't really gone and trashed a bunch of enemies in a while.

The crystal cave was full of weak enemies that I could one-shot. Kind of repetitive after a while. Still, walking out of the end of the dungeon was kind of gratifying. My tangela teammates seemed to be tired. Maybe it was late outside.

Inside, the cave was glowing. Crystals tend to do that. "Alright, you lazy bums." I said "get a move on. If you really want to rest, we'll rest, but you two get to walk the last five minutes to the community between crystal cave and crystal crossing."

They looked at me with pleading eyes.

"No," I said.

"..."

" **No** ," I said again. "You guys wanted me acting like classic Erza, so I'm gonna do that, dang it."

"..."

"I'm not doing it," I claimed.

"..."

My eye twitched. "You can walk."

"..."

I couldn't take the pleading eyes. "... **Fine**." I caved, and the two cheered in a childish manner before using their vines to pull themselves onto my back. The freeloaders let me carry them towards the Crystal Community. Defeated by adorable stares. Figures.

"Good evening." A few pokemon nodded to me as I passed. I remembered that this was where Sarah was from. I wonder…

 _Sarah was treated badly here because she was different. Because her personality was different, because her color was different, everything. But I wouldn't have possibly guessed that such weirdly out of place prejudice was a thing here just by looking._

That thought in mind, I continued walking past all of the homes of the floatzel, buizel, absol, and other pokemon that usually would appear in the crystal cave or the crystal crossing.

As I walked, I kept an eye on the interactions between the pokemon. Weirdly enough, it really was totally normal looking. Just as normal looking as treasure town, but there were fewer people. There were even less around here because some had temporarily relocated to see the tournament in action.

It would be easier to interrogate a shop owner than a random person in the street, so that was where I started to go. Before I reached the common kecleon market, I caught a magnificent sight. Sarah's crystal tree home. In the middle of a glowing cave. I walked over to it, and slowly peeked inside.

And then I stepped inside. There was nobody home. It was kind of nice. It seemed to have been left exactly as it had been.

Well, no. It had obviously been subject to house cleaning. Someone was taking care of the place for her. That was a good sign.

I stepped back out. Now I had more questions for the kecleon brothers here. I walked right up and leaned on the counter. "Hi." I greeted them.

"Hello, miss!" one kecleon greeted me cheerfully. "What can we do for you today?"

"Actually, I wanted to ask a few… Questions." I darkened my gaze slightly just for show. "Just because I'm in the neighborhood passing through."

"What do you need to know?" the other kecleon asked, unfazed by my look. Darn it, I was way out of practice.

"I've got a friend who was from here," I said. "She used to live back there." I waved my arm in the direction of the giant crystal tree."

Their eyes widened. "Oh? We remember her," they told me. "She was always really nice, if a bit…"

"A bit what?" I asked, inserting a sweet tone into my voice.

"Well, she would often inject herself into conversations that other pokemon were having." one of them explained, causing me to raise my brows. "A lot of people didn't like her."

"Surely that's not the only reason people didn't like her." I ventured.

They figured out what I was getting at pretty quick. The kecleon brothers were quite intelligent. "Yes… There were several pokemon who also didn't like her because she was red instead of black. It was quite peculiar to us, really. She was always very kind to us."

"Did others trying to ignore her make her want to be involved more?" I asked. I received a couple nods. "Alright, and that would annoy people when she was younger, but what's with the color issue? She really doesn't act like anybody else might if they need **somebody** to pay attention to them."

The brothers looked at each other. "Well… That's a question we can't answer." They admitted.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Because it made no sense to us in the first place." they shrugged. "If you want to know why some of the pokemon here disliked the young absol because of her color, you would be better off asking them."

"...Okay." I nodded. "Well, I had best have a chat with some people. And we need to rest for the night."

"There are plenty of empty places with bedding in them although that bedding might be a bit old. Some pokemon come in and keep your friend's place tidied up, actually. Most of them are absol. The first few times they went in there, we took the liberty of making sure they did not leave with anything, but they really didn't take anything. Just made sure everything was still in order." they told me. "I'm sure your friend would be fine with you staying there, but you'll forgive us if we make sure you don't leave with anything of hers either."

"That would be great, thank you." I nodded. "Now, I am definitely here about the tournament. But… after coming here, I did start to feel curious about why people were so mean to Sarah. So I hope you don't mind if I… **Interrogate** some people."

I shot the two of them a smile as they gave worried glances towards each other. I smirked as I walked away to Sarah's old house and dropped off the tangela before starting to walk towards a more populated sector of the place, spinning my flail lazily in my hand in a display that made everyone look at the green glowing weapon.

And because I was easily noticeable, I could walk up and talk to somebody. "Yo," I called to the nearest absol. He raised his head and stopped padding along, turning his head to look at me. "What's up?" I asked as I walked around to be in front of him, letting my flail fade away.

"Who are you?" he asked with a raised brow. His voice was pretty deep, similar to Caleb's voice, actually.

"Name's Erza."

"...Nickname."

I smirked. "Nope, name. I'm a good friend of a very particular human turned pokemon." I explained. The absol stiffened. "Now, I dunno. I guess something about the way you walked had me wanting to call you over first. A certain armored absol may have described you. The lowered head, looking at the dirt, the kind of off step, like the guy who taught you how to walk was messing with you. And…"

I gave him a more menacing smirk. "I'm sure you remember a certain red absol."

"...Yes. I do." he replied after about six seconds.

"So." I crossed my arms. "What was up with that?"

"Why are you asking?"

"Because a good friend of mine used to be shunned, actually **shunned** in this cave." I gave the guy a dangerous look. "And that's no good. I figure you have some sort of explanation, and that explanation decides whether your face violently meets the crystal floor."

He sweatdropped at my threat. "This… Is hardly the time or place for such a conversation," he claimed.

I started whirling my newly re-summoned flail.

"Okay. No need to be violent." he quickly amended. "What do you want me to say?"

"Let's start from the beginning." I ventured casually.

When I didn't elaborate, he sighed, probably realizing that I was not going to let him off. I think I was getting my scary smile back. That was good. Scary smiles are good. "Alright. She was born when I was eleven. Nobody I knew saw it coming. Nobody knew what to think." he began. "At first, there wasn't any trouble. She acted like a normal absol for a few years, taken care of by her parents, and everything else. Then, she started acting very strange."

I gestured for him to continue.

"Everyone was kind of ignoring her. Suddenly, she starts getting in everybody's faces. Far more than a normal child. She gets freakishly emotional several times, and injects herself into random conversations. Nobody can get rid of her. Nobody'd ever seen anything like it, and it was pretty clear that it had something to do with the only other difference she had: her color." he continued. "She became insufferable. Trying to start conversations with visitors who really had better things to do, and for a few years, she would even challenge strong pokemon she met to battle when she had nothing to do with them in any way, and left them more confused than anything."

I frowned.

"Eventually, we figured out that ignoring her wasn't stopping her from being the bright red pest that she was." the absol continued. "So we tried being hostile instead. That worked pretty well, and she started keeping to herself. Started getting emotional, and depressing to be around, but that was easy enough to avoid. But she still would pop up uninvited from time to time to greet people who walked in, people who would panic because she would unrealistically friendly with them right off the bat"

"Eventually, she left her house, deciding to live on her own at around sixteen. Once she started living on her own, it was much easier to avoid her and she scared fewer travelers with her colors and personality." the absol nodded firmly as he ended that sentence. "Finally, the absol with armor comes along and after taking the time to be rather angry with me, and then he takes her away."

"Sarah," I said.

He blinked and tilted his head. "What?"

"Sarah. Her name is Sarah."

"..."

"So here's where I ask a really, really good question." I ventured, looking up at the ceiling and shifting a bit, again for show. "Did it ever, even once occur to you that she was acting all friendly because she really needed a friend?"

The absol blinked.

"That maybe she started acting out because everyone was ignoring her? Because as a child, she saw everybody except maybe her parents turning their backs on them?"

"..."

"That just maybe, maybe all of her little personality quirks and differences are your own fault?" I suggested "And the fault of everyone who treated her poorly in the first place? You convinced herself that she was acting differently because of her color, but that just… Doesn't make sense. I've been spending a lot of time with a genius human turned absol. And recently, when something doesn't make sense, it **really** doesn't make sense."

I got a blank stare. I sighed. "So get your act together and get it through your head that Sarah isn't any different from a normal absol, and calm down."

 _Huh. I learned a lot just from one interrogation. I don't think I even need to interrogate anybody else. Lucky me._

The absol looked away. "I wasn't done," he said. This caught me off guard.

"What?"

"What happened afterward was… Rather swift." he muttered "Suddenly, everyone was looking for 'Sarah', and **not** find her there. Things swiftly became… Boring. In comparison."

"You didn't know what you had until you lost it?" I asked, "Serves you right, numbskull."

"..." his eyes shadowed over. "No one has even begun to consider using the home she left behind." he revealed, "Nobody wants anything to do with it, but the reasons for that have changed."

"Wow," I said in a mock-impressed tone. "And it took a human to make me realize **I** was terrible at stuff. But **boredom** did you and your sickening beliefs in? Wow."

"Don't pretend to respect me." he turned back to me, eyes tired. "Just… Don't."

"Too painful for you?"

He just nodded. "Leave me alone." he said tiredly "I have a lot of things to organize."

"Like what?" I asked.

"Planning parties to gather food from above the crystal cave, and the monthly cleaning."

I blinked. "Monthly cleaning?"

"Of Sarah's home." he walked away from me right then and there.

* * *

 **Amber: Jango, remind me again... Why were they doing that?**

 **Jango: Who knows. Remorse, confusion, regret, one of those things is not like the other... (grins)  
**

 **Amber: Jango, I am sure it's not what you just came up with.  
**

 **Jango: You don't know tha-**

 **SMASH!  
**

 **Me: It's not what Jango just came up with.**

 **Amber: Had a good rest, Hyper?**

 **Me: Yeah, actually. Yeah.**

 **Amber: Uh... Anyways, everybody, I think Hyperjade would like it if you reviewed and shared your thoughts and how you felt about things, and constructive criticism as well. So... Uh... Yeah...  
**

 **Me: I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I will try to meet my own expectations next time, and will definitely try to put in a lot of work during the weekends on my stories. Thank you all for your patience, I truly appreciate it.**


	23. Chapter Twenty Three

**This is weird...**

 **Seriously, FF decided not to allow my bold and italic stuff to remain in the document. So... Shedinja's dialogue is supposed to be bold, and mental conversations are in italic and all of my usual formatting stuff, so let's play pretend, and when FF Is working again, I'll fix it.**

 **Jango: (paralyzes me) okay, loser-face over here can't handle writing apparently when what's being written is not possibly interesting enough. He even cut this one short because it was taking too long, so he shortened scenes and stuff.**

 **Jango: let's start with West. Oh, speculation stuff. Well, keep on trucking, dude. Soooo, yeah, Sarah's past was kind of obscure, and Sarah never talks about it. Which is weird, because she obsesses about other stuff, kind of like our resident armored pain in the neck-slash-fun killer.**

 **Jango: (gives a slow clap) yay, somebody figured out the book title, hooray. It's only the most obvious-**

 **Amber: (walks in) Jango, are you insulting the reviewers again? Hyper kind of wants the amount of reviews to rise, or at least stay the same.**

 **Jango: eep! I'll be good!**

 **Amber: why don't I take over... Uh, thank you for reviewing, Zero the Fox. Lucarioking, thanks for pointing out the issue with Erza's line that was supposed to be a profound thing.**

 **Jango: ooh, ooh, can I answer this one?**

 **Amber: ...**

 **Jango: thank you~ What lied beyond! Hi, hello. I want to say that you should never underestimate the power of experimental things. Nicked a few more things for traps, so if Frost tries anything, I'm afraid some nasty effects would happen. The signal that reacts with nerves to match a tickling charm. If she hasn't landed in that trap already...**

 **Amber: can we move on, please? Uh, what lies beyond, we're all happy that you're spending time with speculation, we really like seeing that kind of thing. Who's next?**

 **Me: (recovers) oh, bookdragon, or Aewynessa, hello. It has been a while, and you have a story this time to boot. Go, I am glad you chose to begin writing. Honestly, I am going to be happy to have you in contact again. I like that I got the right characters in the right positions, and that I am still capable of entertaining you.**

 **Thank you for the correction, Phillip Harbindinger, AKA Averagepichu. Yes, Anonymous, those word mix-ups do exist, and they're due to google docs autocorrecting random things and me missing it when I do basic spellcheck because they are technically correctly spell words.**

 **Finally, EternalSparx. I was wondering whether Caleb's influence was being shown well. Thank you for commenting on it.**

 **I think that's all... Read on, while I get to another story that has currently got more interesting, easier to write stuff.**

 **(PS. As of now, I have fixed the lack of bold and italic. Almost forgot that I promised to do that, haha... Haha...)**

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty-Three: Tension Rising**

 **⽛ Daemyn's POV ⽛**

"Weren't we supposed to find someone today?" I asked.

"I'm just following your lead…" Machoke responded somewhat carelessly.

"Right," I muttered. "So today, our discoveries have included grass, trees, clouds, and some water."

"And dirt."

"Oh, of course, can't forget the dirt." I rolled my eyes. "Seriously, though, are we looking for anything in particular right now, or wandering so aimlessly that we can't hope to find anything?"

Machoke looked around, whispering. "Pretty sure we're supposed to be trying to catch Gallade in the act." he pointed out. "Or search for a guildmaster, one of the two."

"I do kind of want to figure out why Gallade's mad at me," I muttered. "And why he's following me."

Machoke crossed his arms. "You said it was around after you went to see your parents?" he asked.

I frowned. "Somewhere around then, but I hadn't seen a single hair of the guy for a while before that, so whatever made him mad at me could have happened way before that too." I reasoned. "What bugs me is that he isn't just coming right up. Talking to me or heck, challenging me would be more helpful than this stalking stuff. Getting shivers down my spine."

Machoke took my complaint without much comment, so I continued. "As far as I can tell, the guy doesn't speak with many people. He was fine talking with Kangaskhan, as I believed Caleb mentioned when he first met the guy."

"...I dunno." Machoke admitted, shrugging.

I closed my eyes. "Well, the only thing we actually know about the guy is that he can do this wicked transformation thing with that jewel, the same jewel that Caleb has in his armor, so maybe Caleb can do it too. And I remember Caleb being all concerned about the vagueness of Gallade's words on the subject. The guy's emotions are all out of whack, but he only got ticked at Shedinja, and only when Shedinja beat him. So what'd I do?"

"Maybe you beat him in some other way." Machoke mused.

I frowned. "That doesn't make sense to me…" I muttered, "Beat him at what?"

"The guy seems to be able to teleport, so we can't question him about it. Maybe we should just look for a guildmaster, and if he attacks…" Machoke punched his right fist into his left palm. "We'll take him down together."

"That's the spirit." I nodded happily. "Weird boosted form or no, we're a team. Shame Bastiodon's not around to wipe the floor with him with a sneak attack, though."

"And as… Most of the team, we can take down anything with proper strategy." Machoke agreed.

"So guildmasters then. Places of interest?" I asked.

"Fogbound lake, wouldn't be too surprised. Too many people will assume that Mt Bristle has one; I don't want to deal with that…" Machoke mused.

"I don't really want to go too far from Treasure town. A lot of the teams are going to be going to places like the lakes, or other fancy locations. I might suggest that we go to a place that we really wouldn't expect a guildmaster to be at all." I pointed out. "But I also want to be around for when teams start coming back, and we can't be sure nobody's going to try and sneak their treasure in to keep it somewhere safe in town where people don't look…"

Machoke frowned. "Yeah, once it's in somebody's house, nobody is going to go pillaging for it. Okay, maybe somebody would, but not enough for that many houses and so little people to do it." he pointed out.

"So we should stay close to town. Heck, we should check the town." I corrected myself quickly.

"If you say so, though I don't know what would actually be in there right now." Machoke crossed his arms.

I thought about it for a moment. Why had I suggested it again? "Erm… Well, let me lead up to this real quick…"

"What, while you try to figure out what your point is?" Machoke asked me with a raised brow.

I sweatdropped. "Don't think about it. Okay. This challenge has to be pretty difficult, because after all the lessons Caleb was giving about strategy, they have to try and be clever about making the challenge. So they could put the guildmasters in newly discovered, low-level dungeons that are just there, or whatever, and they might put hints somewhere or something… If we go to town and talk to the people who are still there, maybe we can find out some stuff. Or find clues. Eh…"

"Would the guildmasters really set that up?" Machoke asked curiously. "I mean, I know Caleb's super influential, like, scarily so, but that much? I'd say that's a little bit of a stretch."

"I would agree, but Wigglytuff and Ninetales know him personally, and the rest of the guildmasters have met him at different times." I reminded him. "They pieced this thing together, and they may have tried to put elements into it that would make it more difficult for him. What I think that means is that they would have employed as many tricks as possible into where they put themselves."

"False hopes, false trails…" Machoke began

"Traps, maybe, almost completely unknown dungeons…" I continued.

"Weird tricks, like maybe they're disguised as a different pokemon, or not even in a mystery dungeon at all…" Machoke continued.

"Maybe got the lake trio involved somehow to make things more difficult," I added.

"Or some other legendaries. Have a powerful pokemon or two patrolling the skies and knocking down flying pokemon who go too high."

"Oh, what if there's a guildmaster in Rayquaza's tower?"

"Uh, no. Remember how badly the guy beat us up? No chance he's letting the guildmasters make him a part of it."

"Point."

"Maybe some of the guildmasters aren't going to even be available to people, like sealing themselves away, for a while. So people will look in a spot, leave, everybody will think that place is empty, and then suddenly is has a guildmaster."

"Oh, that's a good idea."

"But we won't know."

The two of us talked for a while as we got out our map and looked at it. Wandering aimlessly had brought us to two dungeons, no guildmasters, and now being followed by a creepy gallade. Fun times. So, we decided to follow up on the town interrogation method, because why not. It would be an interesting change of pace from what we did last time, when I was younger, which boiled down to getting my ass beat by huge pokemon and not getting any treasure.

Yeah, I was gonna get risky on this one.

"No matter what they've got in store… We're playing defense." I decided.

"Sounds good." Machoke nodded.

The two of us changed course, the change in plans easily defined and accepted.

 **⻤ Shedinja's POV ⻤**

" **C'mon, Sarah**." I nudged the sleeping absol with my body. " **New day. Get up and face it**."

"Mm… Caleb?" she asked, her eyes slowly opening.

" **Fortunately, no**." I muttered " **And you should be glad too. We're working to get that curse gone, remember**?"

Reminding her of the goal of keeping Caleb separate from us over and over seemed an excellent way to keep her from running off lately. And I was glad for it. I did not need to chase down or even knock out Sarah to keep her from finding Caleb right now. We needed to starve this enchantment. And hopefully, I could do it with Sarah's cooperation. Hopefully.

Sarah sighed, a flash of flame escaping her mouth as she relented to getting up, glaring at me. But she forced her gaze to soften even as I backed up slightly. "Sorry…" she mumbled, looking around.

" **C'mon, we just need you to keep moving**." I pressed, She violently shook her head to wake herself up, and looked about.

"Which way were we going again?" She asked.

" **North**." I replied shortly " **I think in the direction of the Quicksand Cavern**."

"Fun. Ready to jump into scary quicksand?" Sarah asked me.

I laughed. It sounded more like a hollow echo befit for a haunting character. Sarah recoiled slightly at the ghostly sound, and I shook my body in the way that we decided meant 'no'. " **Sorry. I was just thinking I'd casually float down there**." I began grumbling to myself. " **And my shell's gonna be filled with sand, too** …"

Sarah snorted. "boo -hoo." she retorted. "I'll just dive into the sand on my own then. I wonder what quicksand feels like?"

" **Let's find out**."

"Let's find out."

The two of us walked for about two hours, seeing the sights, etcetera. As usual, we made excellent time, entering lands with sparse foliage and no grass. "This is new," Sarah commented. "I wonder what Caleb would call it?"

" **I don't know. We can't ask him right now**." I reminded her. " **But we need to get through here, and then the northern desert to get to quicksand cave. We're finishing off today with a slew of mystery dungeons**."

Sarah twitched at my reminder. Then she frowned. 'Can we count two dungeons as a slew of them?"

" **Maybe**?"

Sarah laughed at me and looked up at the steep incline we had to traverse. Brightly colored dust made up the ground, with mint green bushes littering the landscape, as well as some trees that had tiny berries all over them. Sarah walked up to one that was stood before the incline, and carefully took a berry between two of her teeth. "These are some small berries." She commented. "Think they taste any good?"

I was amused. " **One bite will tell us that**."

Sarah bit down on the tiny berry, and the way her face contorted was hilarious. "Peh!" She spat the pieces of the berry out. "Peh! Peh! Not good! Gah, that tasted awful!"

" **Urge… To laugh… So strong… Right now** …"

"Shut up." Sarah coughed. She then sniffed the air. "The berry smells pretty good after being crushed, though…"

I saw her eyes widen with some sort of realization before she reached into her packs to bring around one of the extra bags she carries around. Fifteen. Minutes later, she had that bag and a second back full of the things.

" **Uh**?"

"Just an idea. Shh, it's a secret." Sarah put the middle claw of her left paw to her lips jokingly. "Anyways, let's climb up. It looks like the place is one step away from actual desert."

This was true. We had to be pretty close to the northern desert going through here. Sarah started hopping up the slope, her paws slipping on the loose dust, her claw leaving rents in the landscape. Once she realized that she wasn't making great progress with her lack of traction , she dug her paws into the dirt nearby the trees, her paws catching what could be seen of the underlying tree roots.

I floated after her, watching as she clambered to the top of the steep incline to find herself facing a little more of what we had managed to find, followed by desert. "Woo," Sarah said blandly. "The temperature's rising already."

" **Says the fire girl** ," I commented, wishing my tone wasn't always monotone so that I could make my tone as dry as possible.

"Hey, don't get me wrong. I like the heat." Sarah said "but I've still got enough fur to last in a winter setting, which means when the heat goes from summer to desert summer, it can get uncomfortable. It's my face that takes most of the heat when I use flamethrower, though my chest fur's pretty heat absorbent too.

" **You've been pretty positive whenever you talk about it before, you fake** r." I accused her.

Sarah chuckled. "Okay, okay." She relented. "I love the heat. It's a bit weird that it am not as bad as it should be considering my fur, but that's probably due to my huge level of training for my fire type aura. Or maybe it's my stronger than average water type aura keeping me cool."

" **Maybe**." I gave my equivalent of a nod and began leading us forward. Sarah padded behind me, her paws creating lite poofs of dust as she walked. Oh, sometimes I missed the feel of dirt. Makes me wish I could have gotten more information before I evolved. As a ninjask I would have been able to dig still, to feel the dirt underneath and around me. Instead… Now I could burrow through the shadows. And it didn't feel like anything.

We continued traveling, walking between a pair of large, gnarled trees covered in the apparently disgusting yet apparently good smelling berries. Too late, I noticed that the trees mirrored each other. " **Sarah**!" I exclaimed before the scenery shifted. Like with the amp plains, the environment flooded out of the ground and shifted into more of the terrain that we had already been inside. The trees that had been sparse erupted into walls and the dusty ground turned into paths.

"Well, crap." Sarah agreed with my yet unspoken statement. "This looks like a new mystery dungeon."

" **We've been discovering new dungeons left and right. The first of those freaky special dungeons, the one that made us blind temporarily, then the one full of scary fairies that Alger and I found… Now this one**." I said.

Sarah tilted her head slightly. "Ah, it's just a minor inconvenience." She commented. "on the plus side, there are so many berries here that for what I'm thinking of, I'd never run out. Ever."

Now I really wanted to know exactly what she wanted to do with a bag full of berries that smelled good when crushed. I couldn't smell it, so I couldn't use that as a clue.

Sarah began the journey forward. She kept sniffing the air, drinking in the smells that apparently filled the air. Then the enemies came.

The dungeon had an odd mix of grass types and ground types. Tangela, bellsprout… Sandshrews and some sandslashes. There were even phantumps and ekans around.

However, they seemed rather fragile. Sarah had to take an astonish attack for me, but she was left relatively unscathed. When we got confronted with about five enemies, we discovered that the dungeon's soft, dusty ground got torn apart in Sarah's razor wind. The dust storm accompanied the wind blade as Sarah blasted the Pokemon away and tore apart a lot of the wall of trees in the process.

"Jeez, look at that. That's five inches of dust gone." Sarah commented, looking at the displayed floor.

" **Yes, and you piled it all over there, where the destroyed trees ended up**." I pointed out, floating towards the hole in the wall and the staircase in the room that she had revealed.

"Yeah, I know I'm amazing." Sarah puffed out her chest. "And lucky, don't you forget that."

" **Never, ever**." I agreed. And we ascended to what would be the fifth floor of the dungeon.

Except the walls of tree vanished without a trace, and we were on the other side of the two gnarled trees. We'd only seem some mundane items in that place; the dungeon had been short and not bountiful.

"Okay, fair enough. It's about as short as the beach cave." Sarah looked back. "Map, we need our map. We need to mark it down and show it to Chatot at some point."

" **I don't have hands, Sarah** ," I remarked.

"Right." Sarah muttered, "or paws."

She reached around and pulled her map out, doing what was necessary to mark it and put it away. Then, she forged forward like nothing had happened.

Which inevitably led to the northern desert dungeon.

The desert wasn't much fun for Sarah to handle. In fact, she was miserable in the sandstorms. For me, it wasn't even an inconvenience. My shell did get filled to the brim with sand flying in all directions, but in no way did it affect me. Whenever the sandstorm raced through in one specific direction, I kept my body ahead of Sarah's face, protecting her. We fought against the current, me taking responsibility for blasting the opponents we would face.

Despite her getting hungry and managing to find sandstorm-free time to eat some of our apples, we made it out without a single issue. I wondered at the fact that the dungeons were becoming so simple to navigate, but we had been a rescue team for quite a while.

Scratch that, we've been a rescue team for a few months. It wasn't just experience, it was raw power, and Caleb's influential lessons on calculation and planning that get us through dungeons so easily. When I chose whether to use shadow ball or x-scissor or shadow sneak, I chose based on where Sarah was, if she needed protection, if I was in potential danger, if the enemies were close or far, what direction they were moving in, how fast, what species and typing they had, whether they looked like they were blank-eyed dungeon pokemon or awake and intelligent pokemon (after the incident in Chargestone Cave…), etcetera etcetera. The point being that because we learned to do all of this battle analysis, we quickly rose from the middle to the top.

I used x-scissor after my swords dance to take out an opponent in one hit, watching as the blank-eyed dungeon construct pokemon collapsed to the floor, defeated. I looked at Sarah, only to find… Absolutely nothing?

How? She had been in my line of sight the entire time, and then she just poofs away? How'd she do that?

I whipped around as best I could, but no Sarah. Looking down, I noticed footprints being blown away, and I tried to go in that direction quick as I could. I could not let Sarah out of my sight, even in a dungeon. Not when she was in the state she was in.

 **⽕ Sarah's POV ⽕**

I walked along one of the hallways, buffeted by the sandstorm. We were almost out of this dungeon, but that didn't matter too much. What was important was seeing if I could find something nice in here. In my own mind, I wasn't entirely clear on what I was looking for, but I knew it had to be something Caleb might like…

If I can stop thinking about Caleb for a second… Why would I want to do that? Because I have an enchantment to fight… Why would it matter, though?

I had the berries. They smelled good when crushed, which gave me a good idea. But I should probably have something else for him. I mean, the enchantment shouldn't be reset or anything if I give something to him and bail before he can get anywhere near me… Or if I just leave it for him, that's probably a safer idea…

No risks, I'm not supposed to take risks.

I shook my head again. Self-doubt wasn't helping me right now. I wanted to get my dear Caleb a gift, trying to satisfy my needs and starve the enchantment at the same time. I could do it. I could.

I'd ditched Shedinja because he'd be against it. Of course he would; Caleb told him to keep me away from him and so the obedient little guy would do as he was told.

Not fair.

Still… Needed to find something. I looked around the rooms that I entered, hoping to find something. Every time I needed something or someone needed something, the power of convenience would supply it for us, as it had done for a long time.

...Convenience had taken an overseas vacation. Screw you, convenience.

The lack of findings was getting me down, so I kept an eye on my map and occasionally ate a berry because this sandstorm was really grinding at my type auras, using them up to protect my skin and fur. I found the staircase, but elected not to go through it. I had one last room to check before we exited the dungeon.

Oh, hello, good fortune. Are you the substitute convenience today?

There was a technical machine buried in the sand, partly uncovered. I'd love to see what it was. Unfortunately, a few pupitars were in my way. They charged me quickly, without hesitation. I merely sidestepped the reckless attack and launched a bombardment of water pulses from the side. They went down simply enough. I walked over and flipped the disk out of the sand with my paw…

Oh… My goodness…

 **⻤ Shedinja's POV ⻤**

Sarah must have been planning this for a while.

I mentally grumbled to myself as I floated from hallway to hallway, occasionally ducking into my shadow to avoid an attack that would harm me. I used my shadow sneak to move faster most of the time, but would pop up to attack something occasionally.

I can't let her do that when we're not in a dungeon, because then she can escape me.

Why had she run off when we were in the dungeon? She can't escape like that. Her growing obsession with Caleb broke some limit of hers and she bolted, but why?

The only things in a dungeon she could get are money and items. Caleb wouldn't find value in money, so… She's caved to the thought that she could get him a gift. Okay, now we're getting somewhere. She's getting him a gift, maybe so she can do something for Caleb without directly showing affection? It sounds reasonable, unless she intends to present it directly to him, experiment over. Either way, she's putting herself in a position to fail right now and I don't think her mind's properly hers any longer. Drowning her rational thought slowly was proving difficult for her. So she's trying to, in a barren desert dungeon, find a gift for Caleb. Who knows how many dungeons she'll scour if she keeps herself on this track?

Then something came to me. If she went from dungeon to dungeon to find something good enough, that may work out for us. Walk the outskirts of the region, going into dungeon after dungeon, trying to accomplish what Sarah wants to do… Then, perhaps, I should allow it.

I turned the corner to find her in the midst of the sandstorm, looking at a disk. A technical machine. Surely Sarah would assume Caleb would want something more unique and interesting; It seemed a logical conclusion on my part about her own assumptions, because her enchantment-addled brain would put Caleb in such high regard he'd start to seem almost like a king in need of pandering.

The overly romanticized image was not Caleb, but if Sarah's mind got twisted so badly… Was it worth it to keep the experiment up like this? Should we try something else? I didn't want Sarah to start legitimately suffering…

I inched forward, not wanting to startle her in her obviously conflicted state. But that changed when I saw what technical machine she was holding. " **Sarah**!" I exclaimed, making her leap five feet in the air. " **Come on, we need to go! Leave the TM here**!"

Sarah cooled herself and looked between me and the potential tool for a truly horrible crime. Her expression was completely unreadable, but she looked absolutely desperate. Like she had simply been overcome by need all at once, her need breaking the half and half balance that it and her reasonable self had. Now her actions were usually going to lead towards Caleb unless she tried really, really hard and received constant reminders.

" **Put the technical machine down**." I reiterated as calmly as I could, inching forward. " **You don't need it**."

Sarah kept silent for a while, entirely indecisive. The girl's expression contorted into one of frustration and even potentially pain. Was she experiencing a headache? I know Caleb experienced one when he started fighting himself. "I…," she said.

" **Does your head hurt**?" I asked. I wanted nothing more than to consult the unfortunately-slash-fortunately absent Caleb.

She flinched. "No," she said "But…"

" **That technical machine is a weapon, Sarah**." I reminded her, tense.

"I know," she whispered, her eyes stopped flicking towards me and fixated on the disk. "But… It's just so perfect."

" **And immoral**." I swiftly pointed out.

Sarah gritted her teeth, and I wondered for a moment if the flames were going to come out. I inched closer, as quickly as I dared. "Sarah," I called again. "Please step back."

"...You're gonna destroy it?" Sarah asked, her paw still on the disk.

"... **Yeah. It's for the best and you know it**."

There was a long, awful pause, and I knew she wasn't going to be able to do it. Somehow, something about her stance, told me she wasn't going to do the right thing. My shadow ball was swift and fierce, attempting to destroy the disk before it could ever become a threat.

Sarah's water pulse was swifter.

The explosion encompassed my vision as her own, massive shadow ball whizzed by me, an intentional miss. A threat. I backed up as the dust cleared, seeing Sarah. Her eyes were wild, and her posture was threatening, but she was shivering. " **Sarah**?" I asked.

"Don't!" Sarah exclaimed, almost screamed. "I can't… I…"

I shook my body from side to side. " **Sarah, please be rational**." I pleaded.

"I-I-I-I can't!" she exclaimed. "I know it's wrong, but I just can't let you destroy it!"

" **Then leave it**!"

Sarah looked at the TM on the ground. The awful, pregnant pause was so silent that the sandstorm itself yielded to the silence as Sarah was trying to decide. Finally, she brought her paw forward.

" **Do not touch that TM**."

"I need to keep it," Sarah whispered, she put her paw on it. "Not use it… Just keep it."

" **Do not pick up that TM**."

"If… If I balance this right, the guilt'll keep me from using it, and I'll be too torn about it to think about anything else?" she picked the disk up.

" **Do not put that TM in your bag**!"

She looked at the disk resting on her paw, her eyes clenched shut.

" **Sarah… Please**."

She reached around and pulled a sideways pouch usually used for technical machines open near her shoulder and slid the disk into it. It was with great unease that I read the word 'attract' as it disappeared. For now…

 **❊ Amber's POV ❊**

 **Boom!**

Charizard touched down by where Officer Magnezone was stationed. Our magnezone waved him down with flashing lights, as I leapt down.

Absol joined me, reaching behind him and tossing the piece of Crystal Star out of his bag in one fluid motion. This served as an explanation and a bit of a demand, and it served its purpose well. The police officers present panicked at the sight momentarily before they got their act together. "W-we will dispose of the crystal-l" Officer Magnezone warbled quickly, as the magneton and magnemite that flanked him moved over and carefully worked together to pick it up.

"W-where did you find this-s?" the officer asked, spinning on me. I clammed up instantly, trying to talk but finding it hard to come up with the words.

Charizard saved me from my growing embarrassment. "We found it in the cave where… The event happened," he explained. "It was buried; The search must have missed it."

He got a nod. "U-understood-d" he responded. "T-thank you for deciding to bring it to us immediately-y."

Absol nodded. "It is a dangerous item. It is important that it is destroyed before another dark matter incident can occur. Another has the potential to turn into a legitimate pandemic."

There were no more words to be said. The crystal was taken out of sight, presumably to be destroyed. I recovered as Absol finished his talk with Officer Magnezone, wondering what was up with me. Was that the response I had to the officer last time? I wasn't sure. It should have been, right?

"Amber?" Absol looked me in the eyes. "Are you all right?"

I could tell him my issues. I could trust him. "It's weird, but… I don't know if that was the way I reacted to Officer Magnezone the last time I talked to him." I said. "It's always consistent."

"Do you think the crystal scrambled how you react to everyone when you touched it? It did go totally nuts when you had it, right?" Charizard asked. I nodded, looking him in the eye. I still felt more confident than normal around him. Absol still helped me think rationally. Magnezone still had me… Well… I never had much of a reaction around him. Kind of quiet.

"You guys are fine… I just think it affected me a little bit. Not nearly so bad as it could have been, like with Caleb and Daemyn…" I assured them. "Maybe the people I don't know as well… Oh no, what's gonna happen when I meet everyone else again and start acting differently!?"

My sudden wail was accompanied by new fear on my part. What if they started thinking I was weird again? What if they decide I'm not worth the patience and time again? Would I lose all of the friend's I've made so far? I didn't want to…

Get a grip!

My friends didn't think I was great because I was powerful, with no apparent limits for no apparent reason. They cared about me because… Well, they just did. And if I started acting very differently around them, they'd accept it. And I wasn't being affected differently by people that I knew well, so it may not even matter. If I explained what happened, they'd understand.

And, and, I'm totally jumping the gun. I might just be forgetting how my mind reacted to Officer Magnezone.

I needed to find out how different it was. I needed to see what happened when I talked to more people that I knew, but not super well. I guess I didn't know Shedinja too well. Problem was, I don't remember how I reacted to him initially. I reacted to Caleb calmly, and while we all know a lot about him, we're not directly connected to him in any way. Unlike me, or Jake, he has memories of human life. That separates him from us in a way we can never truly link to. Maybe him. I don't think I ever understood him. Yet again, I had trouble remembering how I acted around him. So if I found myself acting differently around Caleb, then I would know it. That crystal screwed with how I react to people.

The way it went nuts when I touched it… It's color is based on emotion. But my emotions and personality traits were one at a time, right? Why would it show all sorts of colors at once rapidly and rotating, waving like water and fire and wind in an impossible vortex of color? Why did all colors and energies fill it at once when I touched it?

Maybe I am just that screwed up in the head.

Once the officer left, Magnezone turned to the rest of us. "W-What are we going to do now-w?" he warbled.

I thought about his question for a while. Primarily, I debated going straight to Caleb and reporting to him. Problem was, I didn't know how he'd react. Like Daemyn, he'd probably have some sort of trauma from it, and he might panic and rush back to make sure that it was destroyed personally. I didn't want him to panic, because he'd beat himself up afterward about either failing to destroy all of it or panicking in the first place. I didn't want to do that to Caleb or let him do it to himself.

We could have continued the tournament, putting it at the back of our minds… The problem was, I wasn't very interested in the tournament anymore. The guildmasters would be there for a challenge, but I could just… Punch one of them. Not only would that make the whole challenge part kind of pointless, it would take an opportunity away from anyone who wanted the challenge, either from the guildmaster or from the team that beat them, if they had the treasure, because once I had it, it was game over, basically.

It was unfair for me to be in the tournament, and it wasn't too interesting anyways…

I looked at my teammates. "We kind of went with the pack before… Charizard, are you interested in this tournament?"

He blinked. "Well, it could be pretty fun to smash a guildmaster or two." he ventured. "But… it wouldn't be fair to anybody else. I get that."

I clenched my eyes shut. It was my fault that my team couldn't enjoy their battles, because I was too powerful. Because I could just end the fight whenever I wanted; My team would know that their part of the battle didn't mean much, and they didn't get any entertainment out of it unless I was totally absent.

Well… I guess they got some entertainment when I was around. Charizard would grin when he grabbed somebody by the face and bashed them into the ground while using strength. Battle was fun for him. Absol enjoyed strategizing, which was a bit harder for me to appease when my sheer power won the day. Magnezone just… Well, I'm not sure what he enjoyed, just because he didn't seem to enjoy much of anything He kind of followed along-

I think… Oh, that's a good idea.

"Magnezone?" I asked.

"Y-yes, Amber-r?"

"What do you want to do?" I asked, steeling myself as best I could. He twitched, his magnets rotating.

"A-Amber-r." Magnezone warbled "T-this is the fourteenth time you have asked me what I want to do-o. T-the answer has always been 'It doesn't matter-r; I-I will follow along with you-u."

Absol frowned. "Yes, Magnezone, you have said that repeatedly," he said. I looked down, feeling shame at being an annoyance, but Absol was not done. "Amber, please explain why you asked this time."

I nodded, my elevated professionalism and calm in the face of Absol's presence appearing like magic. "Of course. I asked because… Well, all of us want different things. I don't want to fight, Charizard wants to fight, Absol wants to strategize… And I know you have stuff you like or don't like, but you kind of… Distance yourself when we ask you, which… Well, honestly, it makes me feel bad, because It's hard to include you in things unless you want to be there. So I really need to know what you want to do, because… Well…"

Magnezone was silent for a time. "I-I" he started to warble, but cut himself off for a moment. "I-I enjoy-y…"

There was another pause. This was a long one, and I eventually had to intervene. "You don't… Know what you like?" I asked "Or… Or you're saying you don't enjoy anything?"

Magnezone shook himself in a 'no' gesture. "N-not precisely. It would be more accurate to say that I feel very little excitement for anything-g." he said. "S-simply, I have not found something I enjoy much-h"

I thought about that answer. And the answer came to me so quickly that I felt it could have had a physical effect on me. "Okay, I have an idea." I ventured. "Let's play find something Magnezone can enjoy doing."

Charizard grinned. "I'm okay with this plan." He agreed easily.

"It would help improve team relations further." Absol agreed.

Magnezone was silent for a time as we all looked at him. In fact, he was silent for a really long time. Eventually, he looked away, possibly uncomfortable. "I-I am uncomfortable with this topic now-w" he confirmed eventually. "C-can we not simply do as we always have done-e?"

I really wanted to obey, to drop the questions, but Absol stood next to me, and he gave me a reassuring nod. "Sorry…" I apologized "But every time it comes up… I get more worried than before. And we're all at an impasse… Unless everyone wants to split up, and I don't… Want to do that."

I knew my teammates understood my unwillingness to split up. My condition, the fact that I'm easily spooked most of the time and the rest of the time if nobody stops me I might talk someone's ear off or creep them out by stammering too much or something. It was too easy for me to do something weird or wrong… Magnezone tilted forward as he looked at me. "M-my actions have worried you-u?" he asked.

I froze up for a moment, not wanting to insult him, but Absol nudged me again, his expression reassuring. "Y-yeah." I stammered. "Everyone around us has something that they really enjoy, but you just kinda stay quiet. When you first asked to join us, you talked a lot and were excited about adventuring a lot, but that faded away after a while, and since you've been as quiet as possible… I don't know if we, if I did something wrong, and… You just kind of made it hard to ask."

Magnezone paused as he considered my words. I had no way to know what he was thinking without shifting into an espeon, but it would be rude to read his mind. Beyond rude. It would be invasive.

"I-I… I-I did not know that this caused you so much stress-s…" Magnezone murmured in his warbling, electronic voice.

I flinched involuntarily. I had to be strong here. "Well… I'm worried about you." I explained. "I heard that sometimes evolution can change somebody's nature, but… I kept being afraid that you kept sticking to the background because you thought I paid more attention to Charizard or Absol. And I keep trying to ask you what you want to do, but you basically brush it off and follow along."

Magnezone turned to me. "I-if I find something I greatly enjoy, then I will oblige-e" he said "U-until then, please allow me to follow along with your choices-s."

I frowned. "Are… Are you absolutely sure?"

"C-certain-n."

Absol sighed, his professional presence retreating, causing my determination to wilt like a flower in winter. I closed my eyes, knowing that the dark type had done so intentionally, a silent message that there would be a different time to continue the conversation. "Okay," I whispered. "But please… If you need to talk, then talk. You know we'll all listen to you."

Magnezone turned fully to me. "I-I know. That has always been clear to me. It simply has not proven to be a problem-m."

The conversation ended right there, and I had no idea when it would come up again. But at the back of my mind, a nasty thought arose that if Magnezone got his way, I might not hear about it for a while. I wanted Absol to talk to me and tell me what to do, because I was at a total loss. It made it harder that he never looked unhappy and never acted frustrated ever. At worst, he acted kind of emotionless. He didn't seem to be in bad condition, and it was hard to judge emotions anyway wish his voice being kind of monotonous. I wished it wasn't so hard, and I also wished that it could come up more often because honestly, it just didn't.

We go through daily life with relative ease and Magnezone just follows along most of the time. People back home have often been like 'Oh, that's team Amber, with the eevee, charizard, and absol… Oh, and the magnezone, there's one of them on the team as well.'

If magnezone made a bigger impact, would he be willing to be more outwardly friendly like he used to be? Was that the problem?

I mentally berated myself. If I kept making assumptions like this, I might believe one of them to be true before he actually talks about it again. I looked at Absol, and I knew. The years that we had been a team together had taught me a few things about Absol and Charizard, a little fewer things about Magnezone. Absol's expression simply said 'I will tell you when I see an opportunity'.

I nodded thankfully at Absol, before I looked at the rest of my team again. "Then… What are we actually going to do?"

"Be bored?" Charizard snorted sarcastically.

I looked around. "I guess we could just do the tournament, but I'll hang back… And if you guys are knocked out, I'll just give up? It would be fair that way."

"If that is what you want to do, Amber. No one can force you to fight." Absol approved. "And considering our indecision, we should go with what comes easiest… Battle, strategy, and finding what we're looking for through sheer luck."

The other three of us could not help but chuckle. Boy, was that true…

 **⾚ Riley's POV ⾚**

I set 'Lifeline'—One of the books Caleb wrote— down on the desk as I heard the door open. I looked out the window at the rising sun… Caleb wasn't due for about an hour. Meaning I was about to get a visit from Amaterasu.

The book, a story about two characters separated by several continents whose lives were linked in a way that caused them to share pain and death, putting one in perilous situations. The effect was solidified by the emotional and mental effect of knowing you have someone else's life on your hands at all times.

But I stopped thinking about the story I had been reading as I stood to greet Amaterasu as she padded into the living room. She halted, rubbing her eyes with one of her paws once she was inside. "You really don't like waking up early, do you?" I snarked, giving a small wave.

"Shut up…"

I gave a helpless gesture. "What are you so tired for? I was the one entertaining them yesterday."

"Mmrg…"

I rolled my eyes as the sleepy sun goddess as she plodded past me, presumably to some sort of furniture. She was here because it was her turn to do the primary entertainment of the kits that still slept soundly in their rooms. Sheila wasn't really equipped for that kind of entertainment, living weapon that she was. Sometimes she let them use her as a jungle gym, but…

Seeing that the kids tended to wake up around now, I stretched and walked towards the specialized rooms that housed the adorable kits. Opening Child Caleb's door silently, I saw the little guy still sleeping curled up in his fancy bed. He could sleep so deeply that even if I were to open the door more loudly, he'd stay asleep, but the both of them were so full of energy when they awoke. It was almost paradoxical, but they were too adorable to judge.

I checked Child Sarah's room, to a similar effect, every thought I have had about the nature of this dream running through my head once more. Every single day, I wonder how stable it is.

Has to be getting more stable, right? I mean, at first, it was unstable enough that outside events could affect the dream, including drastically changing the kits until Caleb took direct control and fixed them. No such incident has come even close to happening again, and considering how stable Caleb's mind is now, it likely won't ever happen again.

But I could also argue that his mind is not stable, because of how obsessed he is getting with maintaining his 'humanity', which he is so adamant about that despite how reasonable he's shown himself to be, he will listen to no other definition of, much less consider it. Who do I put first if Caleb's growing obsession makes the dream unstable?

I closed my eyes. The kits, obviously. Sorry, Caleb, but even you know the most important people in the dream is those too, and they're so innocent on top of that.

"You always look so deep in thought," Amaterasu commented, still sleepy as she lay on a couch.

I nodded simply, my own eyes drooping as I sank back into my chair. Amaterasu raised a brow as she raised her head to look at me. "And recently, I must say, your usually snarky attitude and the light in your eyes have both faded."

A sigh escaped my lips as I soaked in her observation. "Just… Worrying." was my reply.

"About everything?"

"Yeah."

Amaterasu glanced out the window, saying nothing for a while, but she eventually sighed and turned to me. "So am I. Constantly," she admitted. "It is possible that Caleb's mental state continues to affect us… Or we are simply losing faith in his ability to maintain himself properly."

I sighed. "I don't like either option."

I stood up, feeling the need to take a walk. "Tell the kits I'm playing hide and seek outside," I called as I walked to the door, swinging it open.

I came face to face with a tank.

"Hello, Riley." Sheila greeted me. I frowned. Had she changed her voice volume again? "Is everything well?"

"Uh… Yeah." I said. "A bit stressed out, but I can handle it."

My reply was met with silence. Considering how huge Sheila was, only her mortar cannon was sticking in the door and the center of her main body took up the rest of the space. Eventually, the tank decided that the silence had gone long enough and made her proposal: "I was hoping to spar with you." she said.

I blinked. "Okay," I said without putting any thought into it. "Let's… Get away from the house."

She backed up while I escaped the house, considering there was no longer a giant hunk of metal in the way, and she got ready to roll away. The adamant tank would probably take off if I didn't tag along, so, feeling a bit lazy, I lightly hopped onto her revolving 'head' and hooked my arm around one of her energy turrets. "Feeling a bit lazy, are we?" she asked as she rolled forward quickly into one of the paths Caleb made appear for her through the forest, like plus sized hiking trails.

She rolled at her usual speed: Really, really fast. I was glad for my sunglasses, as they helped deflect the wind so I wasn't squinting. "A little." I finally responded, wondering why I had even agreed. Because I always did, that was why. It was what I did; I was designed with battle skills for protecting the kits. And increasing those skills by training made sense.

Sheila had a habit of emerging victorious because she was a freaking tank, but her adaptability and literally everything else aside, I would still do my best and develop strategies and such.

Sheila stopped as we reached a dusty arena filled with mossy rocks on the perimeter in this forest. Memories flashed through my mind, reminding me of the time I kept myself prepared as the kits pranced across the potentially slippery and bumpy rocks. Nobody wants a little kid bashing their head on the rocks.

I hopped off the tank and looked at my staff and the set of saws. Which to lead with? Only one possible answer. My white staff shone in the light of the rising sun as I drew it, walking to the opposite side of the clearing. "Why are you so adamant today?"

"I have found memories," Sheila said. I looked at her confused.

"Uh… What?"

"I was racing around the flat, unaltered grasslands of the place around the outside of the environment that Caleb designed." Sheila elaborated. "And I began finding small images, memories. This is his mind, after all. I felt like I was traveling into the rest of his mind, and I found it odd that his memories would display themselves that way, but nevertheless, I saw many weapon designs and various other things. I was excited to test these designs as I adapted them."

"Huh." I nodded, getting into one of my fighting stances. "It sounds pretty nice. Now I'm a little excited!"

Sheila's cannon sank into her body, being quickly replaced by a horizontal rectangular cannon. "Giant Shuriken Cannon enabled." she proclaimed, going with her typical habit of telling me exactly what she was going to try and do to me.

Still, that thing came fast.

I dropped backward as the shuriken shot over me at intense speeds, chopping down a tree on the other end of the clearing. I set my palm against the ground, pushed with my legs to stand on that hand, and rotated myself to land properly in a crouched position. I pushed off, charging forward with my staff prepared.

She fired again as I leapt up, avoiding the blindingly fast attack as I reached Sheila and landed atop her cannon again, wondering exactly how I would deal with this one. She brought her turret up, trying to throw me off, but I gripped the metal and looked around her metal surface looking for a weak point. Grinning, I stabbed my staff into the little area between her main body and the turret, using the leverage and my advanced strength to try and pull her cannon off. The metal made groaning noises, almost as if complaining in response to the leverage and power I attacked it with, but I honestly wasn't making much headway.

Do. Not. Give. In.

I worked as Sheila bombarded my ears with various complaints about how this was my usual tactic when we sparred, but come on. Was there any other way I could feasibly fight her? No. No there was not. I pried at it until I heard a louder noise; Sheila activating her mechanisms to pull the cannon back into her body. I bailed, losing my balance as she suddenly twisted and rolled back, her cannon switching out for what looked like a hollow four-pointed star with a large depth, and various gizmos on the outside of it. A glass section of it protruded forward, making it a longer cannon. "Charge Sabre," she announced as electricity started glowing within the cannon.

"Uh, no thank you!" I exclaimed as I backflipped over the first sweep of the beam, which scorched a line directly across the clearing. Then, I held my staff in defense as her beam was sucked into it, turning my staff yellow. I was on her in a second, jamming my staff into one of her turrets, unleashing the vicious electricity into the connection between the turret and her main body, hopefully frying any circuits inside. Sheila retaliated by swinging her guns and smacking me in the head, knocking me off of her. As I tumbled to the ground, Sheila attempted to fire her turrets at me like she probably should have been doing. Only her left turret fired, but the bullets still came fast.

My staff was at the ready, obviously, and the blasts of red energy were sucked into it, and I periodically fired back. As long as she used energy attacks, I was going to win. Sheila was smarter than this. What was she trying to accomplish here?

The duel continued as I continued disabling her energy based weaponry after absorbing the energy. Eventually, I stopped doing that altogether, focusing on trying to flip her over by driving her onto the rocks and trying to lift her.

My first attempt ended in such bad tread-burn that I lost my grip on my staff, which almost never happens. I drew my snow saws and kept attacking when she decided it would be a good idea to sit protectively on my staff to keep me from getting to it without risking total destruction.

Sheila, banged up, dented and smoking, backed away from me. I frowned. It had been like she wasn't even trying. Showing me all sorts of improvised weapons and things that she had, but it was more like she was giving me a live showcase of how impressive her weapons were…

"Why are you doing that?" I asked, my frown deepening as Sheila's banter had stopped. It didn't do that often.

"Doing what?" Sheila asked far too calmly. I took a few steps back, wondering if she was going to do something reckless and destructive. She noticed this, and chuckled. "Oh, you're worried that I have something up my sleeve."

"It's pretty obvious. You, asking for a spar, and not doing your best to win?" I retorted skeptically.

Another chuckle. "This was to show off the things I developed, as you might have guessed, but despite my deplorable condition, I intend to win." Sheila declared, raising her cannon to point it directly at me.

"...How?" I asked, an eyebrow raised.

"You may be winning, but, my unfortunate friend..:" Sheila said in a strange tone. "I am going to end all of your hopes and dreams right here in an **AZURE FIREBALL**."

Ignoring her sudden increase in volume and dramatic tone, I asked the question on the tip of my tongue. "...How?" I repeated myself, genuinely curious.

Her cannon shrank into her body, replaced by an open cylinder with a pitch black interior, so dark I couldn't see within it. The exterior was black as well, but with glowing blue, thin rectangles streamlining the cannon. From open slots on the cylinder, metal rectangles popped out, making the cannon look like it had white wings. It looked like a neat cannon, but why had Sheila gone to so much effort to save it for last, when she was basically beaten and I was on top?

"Blue shell cannon enabled."

I paled. "Oh, son of a-!"

 **BOOM!**

I was warm when I woke up. Opening my eyes, I found not blankets, but the absol kits snuggled up against me. I clenched my eyes shut for a moment, trying to remember what happened.

Oh yeah. I got owned.

I was healed, so I guessed either Caleb had popped up, or Sheila had also managed to develop a heal pulse cannon. I moved my arms, and instead of shifting the kits too much, I held them closer to me, and they snuggled into my chest while they napped. Hadn't they just woken up?

Amaterasu appeared above me, her expression screamed 'happy puppy', but I was not going to tell her that. I didn't need to get hit by any more lightning fast projectiles. "You are awake." she murmured.

"Yeah." I murmured back, knowing not to talk too loudly. "Caleb's here?"

Amaterasu sighed. "No, I do not think so. It appears he has forgotten to sleep in the midst of a project, or some nonsense."

"Shall we see if we can work that little communication thing Caleb tried to construct, see if we can reach his conscious self?" I asked. "Uh, after the kits wake up again. How long was I out?"

"About thirty minutes, Sheila says," Amaterasu replied, moving away from me. The kits had apparently woken up, dragged Ammy outside, and managed to follow the tracks to us, where they decided to… Sleep on me? And why did it take thirty minutes to wake up after I got healed?

Might be the enormous stress or some shit.

Oh, right. I was losing sleep over everything that exists right now. How did Amaterasu sleep? I knew she was as acutely aware of the stuff Caleb was putting himself through. Did she just believe that the dream was safe from his shenanigans?

I suppose that had to be it…

"Well, you're better at telling him off than I am," I mumbled, knowing the wolf could still hear me. "Could we get him over here at a decent clip?"

"Not ready to handle the kits when they wake?" Ammy teased. When I didn't respond, she chose to continue: "Yes, I think I will do that. And rather loudly, if I can manage, using the book Caleb uses to write us messages. Tell the kits I'll be back, victorious or not."

"Noted." I smiled as I heard her scamper away. Oh, the scolding Ammy was gonna give our favorite dense genius…

 **⽯ Caleb's POV ⽯**

I struggled to try and build a miniature version of the trap using various parts that I could replace later. If I used a similar configuration, I should not need to make it congruent if I augmented the mechanism itself just right… Unfortunately being made of rubber wasn't a fantastic experience when you need finesse. That added to my unfortunate lack of fingers with these claws, I was likely the worst person within a hundred miles to actually build the device. Yet, everyone was probably asleep by now, far away from me, etcetera.

I took another hour to put the object together. The first had been a large pentagon, but with five plates and a set of exposed wires between each one, creating a small pentagon…

I stuck my paw inside it and felt for my aura. The entire system required a power source. It was buried; Solar power was out. No generators; It could only work for a minuscule amount of time, so that left…

Ah, there it was. I could feel my different type auras start being drained out of my paw. It should be hardly noticeable, if each part of the system drained only a little bit, spreading the lost energy's exit points out until so little was leaving any given point that it was barely felt, if not at all. But with so few plates, it was viciously sucking my type auras out of my paw: A very noticeable effect. Within a second, the dome erupted around it, and to my (obviously extremely small) amusement, it generated a small version of the monster that had attacked the sandslash and her son. After it attacked (and bounced off of) my paw, I removed my paw so as to not lose any more energy. Yet another successful test. Yet, I needed to put the main device back together, to see if I could pour aura energy into the area without actually being in it and activating it. Did it require more than just the aura energy?

I scooped up the small open pentagon and trekked back to the main machine, setting it down and preparing to take it apart again.

 _"Caleb!"_

A headache blossomed as the voice loudly called… Within my own mind! I whipped my head about, before recognizing that not only had I allowed myself to be startled, an embarrassment, I had allowed myself to be startled by a familiar voice.

"...Amaterasu?" I answered back carefully.

 _"Yes, it's me you imbecilic genius. Go to sleep. Now."_

My eyes widened slightly. "Is there a danger?" I asked hurriedly, urgently.

 _"You need sleep, and the_ kits _are going to freak out if you stay up all night, you fool! Quit playing with your toys and go to sleep!"_

I frowned. "They are not-"

 _"Toys, Caleb. Go to sleep."_

Properly chastised, I stopped acting like the machine was more important and uttered a mental apology. It seemed Amaterasu had indeed discovered a way to contact me while I was awake, perhaps using the message book. While the machine had importance, I was still an acting father figure. Shame hit me in the gut as I quickly curled up and closed my eyes, waiting for sleep to come.

And after roughly ten minutes of trying not to think of the experiments I could be doing, I came to with an irate dream-generated sun goddess staring disapprovingly at me.

"Riley is keeping them occupied." she uttered as I got to my paws. Not responding, not needing to, I walked outside, feeling a breeze ruffle my chest fur, free from the armor I wore day to day in the real world.

Amaterasu came up next to me, walking close by. "Look around you, Mr. Tunnel Vision," she ordered. "You've been spending more time on your projects than… You again."

I breathed out a few times, knowing that Amaterasu was right. Sarah and she… The both were perfectly capable of drilling straight through my 'tunnel vision', as she called it. Obediently I looked out upon the beautiful scenery that I created, the simple act of doing that took some weight off. It was my dream. I'm supposed to be free from stress here…

I waited until I knew the kits wouldn't detect anything on my face, and I trotted down where I saw tank tracks. Another 'day' of fun.


	24. Chapter Twenty-Four

**Hello, let's jump right into reviews.**

 **Hey, West. Finally, some interesting things happen. And things are set up for the next chapter, so I hope the events are more exciting. Although... Four in the morning is probably the point where I point out that the human body does need sleep... Yes, things are basically guaranteed to get out of hand at some point with Sarah's issue growing.**

 **Aewynessa, the machines did indeed take power from the victim to activate its power, as well as negatively affect the person trapped and make it harder to escape. I will review the chapter to see if there was something that I could have done to make that clearer. Thank you. Also, yes, Magnezone did need some character development. I admit that I have been rather unobservant with certain characters earlier in TAC2, my own mistake that I am trying to rectify in the chapters now so that the heart of the story can continue to be the character development.**

 **Haha, yes, AveragePichu. The blue shell that Sheila fired. I really wanted Sheila to fire a blue shell, and I couldn't come up with a plausible place to put it, so I invented one on the spot in the small filler before Caleb was ordered into his dream world by Amaterasu.**

 **NoSkills. I will heed your wish not to make a long and arduous response to your review, although I do want to address and thank you for the helpful review. I am so glad that my story is a 'breath of fresh air' as it were, compared to some of the things you have seen on the sight. Although I do want to mention that the things people look for when they search out fanfiction are about as varied as the things on fanfiction itself. Yes, Angelica and those other characters currently have more direct significance with my other stories, but trust me, their influence in this world is very diverse and complicated. I can't answer questions about the armor and the shipping, because things like that are purposefully subject to analysis and theories. Finally, I appreciate your other forms of praise in regards to TAC as a whole. Thank you for reviewing.**

 **Finally, 'the dude with no life' on chapters nineteen and twenty. You bring up valid concerns and I wish to see them addressed eventually, and I thank you for bringing them up. Although the complaints Caleb have against physics are often about the parts of the story that deliberately break those physics. Gengar's curse was so powerful because as stated, Ninetales used the 'nine tailed crest' to accomplish an absurdly powerful curse as compared to the normal limitations of curses. As for the energy spheres, the type auras have their own ways of acting. Caleb has been studying the type auras whenever he could, and has shown to be determined to understand how the world works.**

 **Alright, that's all. Thank you all for reviewing, and read on.**

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty Four: Shatter**

 **Θ Omniscient POV Θ**

Bright, amusement-filled eyes gleamed in the night as a form silhouetted against the moon. The unidentified being peered down at her sleeping target. "Finally… Jeez, this guy takes a while to sleep."

The large-eared biped vaulted over the rocks and landed silently on the ground nearby. "So what's this guy found in the dirt?" she asked herself quietly, stepping towards it. It was a partially dismantled… Thing made of metal and some orange material. She touched one of the orange plates. "Weird."

The biped next looked at the miniature version of the mechanism that her target had devised. She felt around it, and when her claw dipped in the middle, she felt a noticeable drain on her energy. She drew back, surprised. "That's not natural."

She stepped towards the sleeping absol, who had used the most well-hidden location available in the open clearing, which was a space in the shadow of the boulders. "Okiedokie… This ain't gonna be easy. Welp…"

The difficult to see shadow reached behind her and pulled a familiar stick out of her tail. "Better get started."

⽊ **Erza's POV** ⽊

"Good morning!" I dropped my flail on the ground, the sound loud enough to wake up my tangela teammates.

They whined that they wanted more sleep, but I wasn't having it. "The crystal lights are on and that means it's morning. That means we're off to the crystal crossing."

"They're super dim…" they complained together.

"Which means it's **early** morning, apparently," I smirked. "Now get up. Come on, get up!"

Eventually, I dragged them out of the place using vines. Sarah's crystal tree was a sight to behold from the outside. It deserved to be somewhere where the sun could shine and reflect off of its 'leaves'. If it were outside, it might be the most beautiful sight ever, but no natural light hit it. The fact that it still looked pretty was something.

I tore my gaze from it and glanced around. We'd been fully prepared the night before, so now… It was time to get to it.

I dragged them until they started walking, which thankfully didn't take too long. They could be right lazy buggers sometimes.

"You off?" one of the kecleon brothers called.

"Yep. See you later." I waved as I walked by. I hiked through the community of pokemon that generally resided in the nearby dungeons, the sentient pokemon around me matching the mindless dungeon pokemon in species pretty well, although a few groups were dotted around that contradicted this.

I shook my head. Getting distracted. Cut the analytical stuff out. Back to being Erza. The Erza that didn't like the sight of the next barrier.

"Who the hell sealed the crystal crossing back up?" I asked crossly, going over, and per Jake's explanation of his various adventures, as he had as a topic of conversation when everyone was in Spinda's Cafe, I touched the super-conspicuous crystals around what would be the doorway, changing their colors until the door opened immediately for me.

"Honestly, it's the easiest puzzle on the planet," I grumbled as I trekked down, taking my team with me. "Why would they waste my time by resetting it?"

"People like pissing you off." the tangela resounded behind me. "If they want to see if they can dodge good enough!"

My smirk broadened. "Oh, right. Well, let's find out who closed off our entrance route, and also any dungeon pokemon we find."

The crystal crossing was full of enemies. Lots of them, even more than I had expected. Were there more people in the dungeon? Was that the reason a bunch of dungeon enemies were wandering about?

I leaned around a corner only to hesitate. The dungeon had been laughably easy so far, so now I was at the floor in which the dungeon absol could roam. They were actually kind of annoying because they usually already used swords dance a bunch of times. How exactly-

 _Wait… I can just pretend it's Caleb saying 'I apologize'. That'll motivate me._

I smirked and summoned my flail, walking towards the blank-eyed absol that advanced on me. " _This is my fault, I apolo-"_ I imagined it saying before I KO'd it with a flail to the head. One down! Oh, that made me happier than it maybe should have done.

So I did it again.

And again.

Jeez, I had way too much fun smacking Caleb around when he said that, and ever since he stopped giving me a reason to do it again, I almost missed it. Oh well. Maybe he'd learn his lesson eventually, maybe he'd eventually do it more because he found something amusing about it, or something. I didn't know everything about him, and he was closed off often enough that I couldn't really know him.

But he acted indignant when I did it at first, which made it fun, but now he kind of took it in silence, as if the joke had worn thin. I sighed. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to mess with him anymore. Even if it was funny to everyone present, except for Sarah.

Great. Now my mind was on a track to start over-analyzing Caleb again. It's true he's ridiculously complicated and switches between trying to find some humor in life to pacify us and being completely stubborn about whatever he thinks at other times, during which he shows no humor whatsoever… But I wasn't going to figure him out by thinking it over and over. He helped me be a better person, how on earth could I do the same for him?

I shook my head rapidly and threw my flail at a rock type pokemon, knocking it out immediately.

 _Wow. Why is it so hard to just be me, rather than acting like… Caleb does?_

I paused after I noticed I had cleared the room of opponents. My tangela teammates were silently following me, but I barely noticed that. Instead, something had started to bug me.

Caleb knew I was having issues with acting like I would or like he would, and he hadn't done anything about it. What was up with that? He actively helped everyone, including me, but when it came to what we thought of him or how he acted, he gave no insight? It was a bit strange.

 _I really shouldn't question him._

He always knew what he was doing, and his failings were only due to impossible scenarios such as, for him, magic, and an indestructible force in the form of Amber. And he was very outspoken about his failings. If we were confused about something, and he wasn't, he would normally help out with that.

But we didn't know about something. Why was it hard not to think and act like him? And Caleb didn't speak out about it, meaning he understood, but that's where my problem came in. Why hadn't he helped yet? Given some big motivational speech to help us sort that out? I had remembered that I wanted to act like **me** , or rather, the new me, but what about some of the others? So far, everyone both I and Caleb knew occasionally spoke and acted like him. Except maybe Daemyn, ever since he and Caleb went to Brine Cave he had been much more… Loose.

 _Oooh._

I smacked myself on the head. No shit. Daemyn spends enough time as a **friend** to Caleb to wear down that freaking emotional **shell** , and he gets a real position to stand in. So I had to either interrogate Daemyn about what Caleb told him, or try to do the same thing with Caleb myself.

Oh well. I'd do that later. Right now, I slashed my rapier across the muzzle of another dungeon absol that advanced on me, rolling my eyes because there had been no attempt at stealth whatsoever. Beating dungeon pokemon was so easy it was embarrassing.

We walked down another staircase and left the dungeon pretty much intact. One of the tangela had picked up a shiny crystal. Thankfully, it wasn't glowing blue or red or green or anything, so I assumed it would not be one of the emotion-energy crystals of death.

"Quiet." I literally hissed, sliding up against the crystal wall and moving alongside the wall. "I don't know when we will come across the lake. So pipe down. If we want to beat Azelf, we really need to put some thought into it.

We snuck along until we heard voices as our cover started to go away. I snuck a glance, too quick to get details but slow enough to do a headcount, and then zipped with my teammates in tow towards a crystal as cover to hide while we waited for the conversation to end.

"...And you're certain?" a soft, deep voice asked.

"Yes, I am very sorry. Your friend did not come this way." a higher pitched yet clear voice resonated through the room.

"Oh dear… What will we do now?" a female voice asked. "Neither of your siblings could tell us where Gallade was either."

 _Gallade? Which team is this?_

"We keep looking." Came a tired but defeated voice. "I think it's about time we put a request on the guild board, too. We obviously couldn't do it ourselves."

 _Well, it looks like the search parties Caleb sent out will probably return to find these guys got back again._

I had remembered which team famously had a gallade in it. Even as I slipped around the crystal as they passed, I made out the roserade and rhyperior that made up team Raider, but Gallade was not around with them. Before I could jump to face Azelf, knowing those guys would be going to the guild hall anyway, they turned around once more.

"And I think you should know, Azelf." Roserade added, "Darkrai has lost his memory."

The higher pitched yet male voice cried out in surprise. "He has reappeared?" he asked.

"Yes, and he was scared, particularly when we shouted at him," Rhyperior grunted. "I don't think he's going to be much of a threat **anytime** soon."

Azelf sighed. "That's good to know," he said. "Now please leave. I know you are not participating, but your presence may attract anyone following you here, which right now would be unfortunate."

I smirked.

Team Raider walked away, and Azelf crossed my vision as he floated backward, and I ducked behind the crystal. "Okay, you two," I told them. "Both of you need to sneak around while I'm entertaining Azelf. See if you can snag the treasure, if you can find it. I'll do the fighting unless I call for you, got it?"

They matched my whispering tone with a mutual 'yeah', and I gestured for them to wait for a moment. Then, I leapt out.

"Hey." I greeted him shortly, summoning my weapons.

"Eavesdropping servine," he grumbled. "Your brainwaves were as clear as day. The only reason I did not use my abilities to… **Convince** you to leave was that I understand the value of combining forces. Having those to fight for and fight alongside you empowers the will, and thus empowers me."

 _Ah, shit. Right, he's a legendary that gets power from stuff like determination._

I sweatdropped. I'd have to brute force my way through this one. I'd be fueling his energy the entire fight, so I couldn't wait until he ran out of type auras for his attacks.

"Speaking of combining forces," Azelf said, and I felt a chill. Immediately, afterward, I saw a goodra pick herself from where she was hiding in the lake slowly, revealing himself as the powerful dragon type leader of one of the guilds… A guildmaster and a legendary.

Could I actually win?

I smirked. Why couldn't I? I was a master of dodging slow attacks, and if I really wanted to let loose, now was the time. I discarded my bag, maintaining my grip on the item I had stashed away. A particularly ugly pink ribbon.

"Against a guildmaster and a legendary?" I asked, seeing that they let me knot the ribbon around my neck. My vision distorted in a disorienting way, but I knew how to use it. A smirk came across my face as I looked them in the eye. "I got this."

⻤ **Shedinja's POV** ⻤

I was panicking.

Sarah had the attract TM in her bag. I didn't have hands, I didn't have psychic power… All I could do was keep a watchful eye on her and get in the way of attract. I didn't know whether I could be affected by it, but at least I could probably shake off the embarrassment. Caleb… He was scared of such a power. He doesn't like emotions much. Well, not romantic ones. He prefers calm, and can even do happy when it demands…

 _And I am thinking about Caleb again. Is his presence really such an important thing that it distracts me from keeping an eye on Sarah?_

" **Sarah, I can keep asking forever.** " I intoned as I floated behind her. " **Please drop the technical machine.** "

Sarah angrily enveloped a geodude with a flamethrower, her fire hot enough to beat it. "And I can keep replying forever." she retorted. "Not happening."

" **But Caleb-** "

"But Caleb, exactly." she whirled on me again. "I can't stop, Not anymore. I care too much, I **need** him too much. I need Caleb, I need…"

I took pity on her for the time being. " **You need to fight this enchantment. You can't find Caleb right now, and if it'll take weeks before we can safely go see him again, so be it. I will be here to remind you constantly that this is wrong, but… I'll quiet down, for now.** "

It was testament to how much I was irritating her that she didn't respond to that at all, just turning around and toasting another dungeon pokemon that should have been resistant to her flames. Why wasn't she using her water pulse? Or any of her numerous abilities?

I guess when she was angry, her battle tactics devolved into 'burn everything'.

An hour later, she had burned her way out of the walled dungeon only to stop at the large conical dip in the ground, sand sinking into it constantly with no apparent end to the sand as it flowed freely down into the ground.

" **Alright,** " I said, floating up behind Sarah. " **Let's keep moving. Just keep moving.** "

Sarah stared down the pit. "But Caleb obviously didn't go this way," she complained. "Which means he probably didn't think it worthwhile, right?"

" **Maybe he did, maybe he didn't**." I did my best to sound cross. " **But we will be checking it out.** "

Sarah was pacing on the spot. "I don't know…"

" **Yes, you do. But everything in your brain is screaming for you to deny it.** " I told her. "So get down there, and then we can see if we can find a guildmaster."

Sarah didn't make a decision for a while, staring blankly down at a place she knew full well didn't contain the person she was continually growing more obsessed with. This was getting worse and worse as Sarah lost more and more ground in her self-control. Soon, I don't know if I could keep her off of him. We might need to not report into the town after this whole deal was over after all.

And another awful thought occurred to me. If Sarah got to the point where she would no longer eat or drink, I would need to bring her to Caleb immediately and declare the test a failure. I suspected that Sarah might be cunning about it, so I needed to be careful about that too.

 _Okay… Forget the tournament, I'm on duty to babysit Sarah now…"_

I only hoped that after this was all over, and Sarah was finally free from this nonsense that she wouldn't hold anything against me.

"I shouldn't. What if Caleb gets hurt out there?" Sarah asked.

" **He's probably got fifteen different contingency plans**." I intoned, the tone I imagined myself using just as much of a deadpan.

"We haven't seen all of the places in the region yet, what if he gets lost?"

" **Sarah even if we all got lost together it would be him getting us out**."

"Ugh, I know, but… What if he… What if he… I'm trying to…"

" **Find excuses. Now get down there.** "

"I shouldn't, I can't." Sarah decided, clenching her eyes shut. "I have to find Caleb now-"

If I didn't do it now, all of this would have been pointless. I used shadow sneak on her, sinking down into my shadow, zipping directly under her head, and delivering the equivalent of a uppercut, sending her yowling in surprise straight into the quicksand. Good thing there was a cave under there…

I floated over and pushed my body through the quicksand with ease,emerging in the cavern below. It was quite a tranquil place. And darn it, my shell was absolutely full of sand. Not fantastic. Once again, it didn't affect me any, but it was aggravating me for some reason.

" **Shedinja**!" Sarah roared, greeting me with a flamethrower. Wonderful. I ducked into my shadow just in time, and swept around. I knocked Sarah's badge off, so she couldn't teleport around the dungeon, and then I quickly thought of and implemented a clever solution. I turned by open back dowards, emptying sand, and then shifted over and scooped Sarah's badge into my back, followed by backing off.

" **You keep something I'm not able to take from you, I return the favor,** " I told her flatly. " **I will not give you your badge until you let me destroy the technical machine**."

I didn't expect Sarah to look so dumbstruck and horrified as she did in response, however. Her pupils dilated, and her expression instantly changed from anger to abject horror. "Wha…" she started. "You…"

There was utter silence while I registered that whatever I had just done had unintentionally snapped Sarah out of it for the time being as she focused entirely on something else.

"W-was I really acting so bad…" she whispered "For you to take me off the team?"

 _Ah, shit._

" **Sarah. This badge is just a tool.** " I quickly amended, hoping not to incite an incident. " **You're emotionally compromised, so you might not have understood that right away in this case, but whether you have the badge on or not doesn't dictate whether you're on the team. But it's a method of escape. Right now, I can't trust you.** "

I continued consoling her, shifting closer to her as she shivered where she stood, careful to make it clear exactly why I did what I did. Eventually, she began to calm down. The girl had neared tears in the combination of her current state in which she lacked judgment and the apparently symbolic but ultimately meaningless stealing of her badge.

" **Just calm down, Sarah**." I begged " **I didn't want to hurt you, but right now it's really important that we see this through. It's for your own good.** "

She gave a light sniff. "I-I know…" she said quietly. "I think… I think I'm back in control a little bit, but… If this gets any worse I don't know what'll happen to me."

" **You're strong**."

"Yeah, but… Not emotionally, remember? And if I even think about the… I shouldn't say it, but… I don't know if I'll hold out if I so much as look at it…"

I nodded slowly. " **Stay strong. Vent on some dungeon pokemon**." I moved closer to her. " **You can do this.** "

I repeated that a few times while she put herself together. Inconsiderate or not, I had managed to stun her out of her issue for right now. She was silent as she turned and began walking towards the entrance to the dungeon.

We padded and floated into the dungeon in silence. That silence was killing me. I wanted to fill it, but now that we had entered, my mistake was weighing on me and Sarah still looked shaken. I kept turning the front of my shell towards her, hoping she would say something.

She was using water pulse and some other attacks. Not the angry rush of flamethrower over and over. Her shadow ball drilled through walls, and her water pulse figuratively annihilated the ground type opponent's that littered the floor. The skorupis, they got plenty of fire for their trouble.

I tried to pitch in, I really did, but… Sarah had it covered, honestly. Her elemental auras that her attacks were born from were so well trained and built up that they just wouldn't run out. My shadow ball was smaller and faster than Sarah's somewhere between hers and Daemyn's, but while I defeated a few enemies, it just didn't matter.

So I let her go through it. By the time we were halfway through the dungeon, she had something to say. "Shedinja… I'm scared I won't be able to beat this spell…" she finally murmured.

I didn't know how to respond to that for a bit, but I finally gave it my best shot. " **...If it doesn't work… We'll find another way.** "

"I don't want to find a way… That's why it's so hard." Sarah murmured.

" **That's what the rest of us are here for. To help you.** " I pointed out kindly.

Sarah looked at me skeptically, her eyes tired. "There's only you here. Everyone else is minding their own business. Caleb's got everybody doing their own thing, and he's off somewhere doing who knows what…"

" **Sorry? Caleb has them doing what?** "

"Well… It's hard to explain…"

" **No, no, I just… I was just thinking about it. His influence is staggering, and he's got everyone acting in ways that benefit both us and him, everyone around us.** "

Sarah looked straight ahead. "If there's an honest part of me that loves him without this… This magic… I love his ability to help people through things, even if he says and does things to pacify people before using that freedom to do something else.

" **Like what, I wonder…** "

"He deserves to do something for himself," Sarah told me without hesitation.

I halted.

 _For himself?_

Now that I thought about it, I didn't know what things he did for himself and what he did for others. Sometimes he sealed himself off, sometimes he laughed and played with us. Sarah probably wasn't in the right state to realize the implications if Caleb was just trying to pacify everyone before going and doing his own thing… It was a little unsettling that whenever he was done humoring us, he clammed up again and went into that tireless routine with the guildmasters, the public, and his friends that seemed… I didn't know the word for it, but it was professional, and I couldn't tell exactly what it gained him.

I shook myself and continued floating forward to catch up to Sarah. I couldn't dwell on that now. And we just had to teach Caleb to open up more over time, and maybe not only would we learn what he was doing, we would also get him to relax or stop entirely. Because it was probably seriously unhealthy for him.

Instead, I sunk into my shadow and then hid in Sarah's shadow, moving with her. It was practice I had just devised to pass the time. If I could hide in Sarah's shadow during a fight, I could maybe startle my opponent's.

"What in the world are you doing?" Sarah asked.

" **You can tell I'm here**?" I asked.

"My absol sense was picking up your ghost type energy…" She admitted. "But why are you hiding in my shadow?"

" **Trying to distract myself,** " I admitted. " **It's a battle tactic I'm practicing**."

"Oh. Well… I guess that'll be useful if we go and find a guildmaster here." Sarah noted, continuing to walk on. "Need my help?"

" **How do you want to help**?" I asked.

"I can change my pace over time, like what Caleb did to me every once in a while way back when… It was difficult for me to keep up sometimes because I either didn't pay attention. Or never had to move at that weird pace that he pulled off."

 _Wow… She sounds almost normal right now about Caleb. How long will it last? Or… No, there's a lot of convenience surrounding everything we experience, but I know getting rid of that magic isn't going to be so easy._

" **I get it. I'll try to stay in your shadow.** "

Willing to be a valid way to distract Sarah further and try to contain her growing issue. She walked at different paces, even breaking out into a run at times. it wasn't as hard as it might be for someone with legs, but I absolutely had to be paying attention. My max speed was constant and not fantastic, but in shadow sneak I could go far, far faster, making my regular limitations kind of moot.

As I learned from my experience with the angered gallade who transformed, fire didn't mean much when I was fully in my shadow. Ghost types could probably reach me in my shadow, and I didn't know if dark types could, but it would be silly to think that rocks could hurt me.

But dark and ghost types just weren't around. Sarah's water pulse was ripping through them like paper (though obviously not with the actual being torn apart bit… Just knocking them out). I wasn't very useful here because Sarah was just overpowering everything. Oh well.

I did practice my use of stealth. When something came up on Sarah's left without her noticing, I managed to use shadow sneak and get back into her shadow and judged that about a half second has passed. I needed to do better if I wanted it to seem like the person I was hiding with had somehow counterattacked. I had something to train in now.

"Thanks, Shedinja." Sarah glanced over at the pokemon that was getting back up. "Raw power could use some work, though."

" **Yeah, sorry.** "

"Don't do that." Sarah chastised me. "Caleb would say that you should strive to be better instead of apologizing."

I paused. " **But what would you say**?"

Sarah blinked, her lips turning downwards as she thought. "Well… I'd say not to apologize because I don't hold anything against you…"

" **There we go…** " I said, wishing I was capable of emoting in some way. I'd be smiling.

Sarah and I continued walking, beating enemy after enemy and forging onwards relatively easily. If there was a guildmaster in here, we'd be all set up for a real fight. Neither of us had really taken any damage, and Sarah was still running hot on energy, and I didn't exactly have limits on the amount of energy I could use, although I had plenty of limits regarding power.

It got darker and darker as sandstorms started once again, and I stopped my training with Sarah's pacing. I once again put my body in front of her so that she didn't get blasted by a bunch of sand constantly as it blasted like a riptide through the corridors of the dungeon.

"Get stomped on you mindless dungeon hippodown so I can actually see stuff!" Sarah cried out five minutes later, using her absol sense to pick an enemy out of the blinding sand and firing a few water pulses in that directly. Sure enough, the sandstorm began to slow down for a bit.

Then it kicked up again. "Where did that one come from!?" Sarah complained loudly, and while I was happy she was totally distracted for now, I was worried that I couldn't totally protect her because my body was smaller than hers. Her thick fur covered most of the rest of her body, but I could see her claws were actually getting filed down very slowly until they got dull. A healing would care for that, but for now it meant that Sarah's aura that was defending her from the sandstorm was being eaten away by the constant barrage despite my help.

Although… The healing hadn't been utterly perfect before, had it? It was good enough to replace Jake's tail after Amber's blast perfectly, and then it fully healed a bunch of other stuff. Yeah, it'd fix her claws and tail right up. I don't know why I worried for any amount of time.

 _Well, remembering how her eyes got some gray left in them tells me it's not perfect, but the eye is super complex. Way more complex than anything other than… Well, I guess the brain. I don't know what the brain looks like._

Of course, I technically didn't have one. I was a ghost, for crying out loud. I didn't have a brain, or a heart, or even eyes.

We continued forging our path through the storm, defeating as many hippodown as we could when they passed and wrecking the occasional tyranitar too. Eventually, the sandstorm calmed down and Sarah inspected herself. "Jeez, that was a headache, and just look at my claws and tail… Caleb wouldn't find this pretty at all…

" **Shh. Don't think about it**." I admonished.

"Too hard… Not to…"

" **You are strong**." I pressed. " **Think about something else**."

Sarah clenched her eyes shut, and I responded by bumping her in the side with the extended parts of my shell. She jumped and looked at me, surprised. " **Finish the dungeon** ," I ordered. The simple command got her to nod, and Sarah plodded along the halls again in search of the staircase.

And once again, very little of significance happened for several floors until we reached the end of the dungeon. The repetitive incidents were leaving me a little bored to be perfectly honest. The end of the dungeon, however, was pretty bland looking. The corridor stretched before the two, leading them onwards as the dungeon's grip slipped on them and they walked out. I looked at Sarah, who was looking herself over and shaking herself, dust and sand flying out of her pelt in a large cloud, getting all over my shell.

"Ugh." she looked at her claws "I wish heal pulse worked on the person using it." she complained.

" **Me too. You look atrocious**." I joked, before quickly realizing again that my voice was monotonous. " **Uh, that was a joke.** "

"It's okay, Shedinja." Sarah put her paw down, smiling slightly. "I know you well enough to know when you're joking."

I didn't respond. I was looking too far ahead. Sarah noticed me doing so and glanced upwards again as we entered a room and found the lake. "Oh wow…" she said.

"More people? Really…" a female voice sounded, high pitched and pixie-like. I was looking at a pink and white pokemon floating above the water, her twin tails waving back and forth as she floated up and down slightly.

"That's Mesprit." Sarah identified the being in something resembling awe.

"Yes, I am." she angled her body downwards and swooped up to Sarah, looking her right in the eyes. "I felt you coming from miles away… Quite literally."

"Uh…" Sarah leaned away.

"Your emotions are in such an endless turmoil and so enriched with magic that it was hard to focus on my most recent visitors. That ishard." Mesprit frowned. "Not, of course, that I can't handle it."

Sarah grimaced. "Sorry…" she murmured.

"It's hardly your fault." Mesprit twisted and floated away. "I frankly have no idea whose fault it is."

" **Then I'm sorry, Mesprit,** " I spoke up. " **I didn't think about the fact that you were here in the first place, I'll be honest. We came here because of the tournament.** "

"Oh, yes, your silly tournament." Mesprit made a 'humph' noise as she turned to face us again. "I didn't want any large battles happening around **my** lake, thank you very much. Or at least, I did not want to be involved in one."

"Okay." Sarah nodded agreeably. "Well, it was nice talking to you, now I should go find-"

" **Don't say it** ," I warned. " **In fact, since this is incredibly convenient considering we completely forgot that you lived here, Mesprit, would you be willing to help deal with her emotions?** "

Mesprit floated closer. "I am not a magical being, Shedinja," she informed me gravely. "Suppressing her emotions could take constant effort on my behalf, and I have many things to attend to. I don't just sit around in my home all day every day. And while I could give some pointers, I frankly haven't seen a magic trick like that in my life."

" **But you can sense the magic**?" I clarified.

"Oh, dear, no… But I am extremely sensitive to emotions, and your shiny friend's emotions are fluctuating and growing in such an unnatural way I'm actually feeling queasy if I focus too hard on it." Mesprit explained pointedly. "The magic aspect of it was basically a given."

" **...Fair enough**."

Sarah suddenly looked to her left. "My absol senses are tingling." she joked, referencing one of the movies we had gotten Caleb to show the people in the cafe. I hadn't even looked that way (legendaries were very distracting) to find three pokemon just sitting there, watching us. "Hey, Blutarch. Hey, Gunjin. Hey, Shino."

Indeed they were. Shino with the icy metal-covered sword and the necklace, Gunjin with his everstone necklace and samurott sword on his back, and Blutarch with the mystic water pendant. Just watching us, as if surprised we were even here. Where was their charizard though?

"Hey." Blutarch nodded. "This is coincidental."

"No kidding," Sarah replied.

"They arrived shortly before you did… After a rough experience with a team of grass types with an aerodactyl as the leader." Mesprit explained calmly.

Shino looked particularly embarrassed. "It was faster than me and hit me with a stone edge immediately. It then made its teammates chase us away while it distracted Glurak."

"Water types and grass types duking it out in the desert," Sarah muttered. "Didn't work out, huh?"

"It was that chlorophyll ability," Gunjin explained, looking frustrated. "And a sneak attack. I haven't been so embarrassed in five years."

" **So while fighting in the desert, you got trapped down here after being tossed in the quicksand?** " I asked.

"Yeah." was the general consensus. Blutarch spoke up again. "I'm sure Glurak's fine, but I'm also sure that he didn't see where we went because he was trying to pummel the aerodactyl."

" **That is problematic**."

"I'm sure he's fine." Shino proclaimed cheerfully. "He could have beaten the aerodactyl. It's when he's wondering where we are that I'm worried."

" **Stone edge is a remarkably powerful move**." I pointed out. " **And Glurak would be damaged a lot by a rock type attack.** "

"True, but Glurak is still powerful. And he plans his attacks ahead skillfully, to the point where he defeated much more powerful and evolved pokemon as a charmander, when they were charmeleon."

" **He plans ahead**?" I asked. " **Huh… I was honestly wondering if a high level of planning happened at all before Caleb showed up**."

"I don't mean to be rude… But you must not have been around too much." Blutarch told me. "Your species generally lives in the ground, right?"

" **Well, before I evolved, yeah** ," I admitted, thinking about it. " **And the first time I met someone who really put everything into thought was Caleb. And when he spoke up and taught everyone around him the importance of advanced strategy rather than the basics…** "

"There is a problem with that, but it's mostly about the psychic types not bothering to teach the common pokemon," Gunjin spoke up calmly. "Basically, there are more people who already think things through than you expect."

"So then why was basically every pokemon that could fit in the area willing to listen to Caleb's talks about strategy?" Sarah asked.

"Why wouldn't we?"

The dewott's answer was in a tone that suggested there wasn't anything else to it. Now we just looked at each other awkwardly for a while.

"...We had best be getting out of here now that we're out of the dungeon." Blutarch said before grabbing his badge. "Considering how long it took to get to this point, we thought a quick conversation with Mesprit would be fine. But we should look for Glurak now."

"A-alright?" Sarah muttered in confusion as the team flashed away whilst Shino waved goodbye.

"This has been quite a week… Why couldn't those guildmasters just tell everyone there wasn't one here?" Mesprit complained, floating away. "I'm going back to sleep." she announced dully as she flew straight into the lake.

Sarah had raised a paw as if wanting to say something when Mesprit was halfway done talking, but slowly put it down. "...Uh… That happened."

I couldn't disagree with her. Pretty much nothing was gained by coming here. No guildmaster, no treasure, definitely not anything we could use. Mesprit had basically been like: 'Yeah, I can't help you. Later.' and bounced. " **...I think we should try to get out of here without using the badge…** " I said. " **Sarah, do you think I could pull someone into my shadow if I really tried?** "

"Probably not, but… Go ahead, I guess." Sarah muttered, still looking a little confused.

I pressed my body on her leg and activated shadow sneak, my best bet for bringing her in with me. My body just melted around her into the shadow, which showed that it was a useful method of escape, but not that I could get Sarah out without the badge.

I emerged and turned my back to Sarah. " **You can take your badge out of my shell now** ," I told her. " **You seem to be stabilized for right now so…** "

Sarah brightened. "Thanks for the vote of confidence," she replied with the barest touch of sarcasm as she reached her paw into the hole on my back and scooped the badge out, pinning it to herself again. "As long as I just keep myself distracted… I should be okay. But I don't know how long I can do it until being distracted is completely impossible…"

" **All we ask is that you try.** "

❊ **Amber's POV ❊**

We went without conflict until the aerodactyl showed up.

It happened like this: I was running along with my team and not looking where I was going. Once again I crashed into something, my face flattening as much as it could without sustaining damage. I fell back, feeling embarrassed considering how often I've done that since coming to this place, but then an aerodactyl comes screaming out of the air right at me and the thing I ran into.

The silhouetted object moved and looked down at me. I'd run into another charizard, who looked rather battered.

No words were shared as I scrambled away, trying to think of whether I had met a charizard I felt prone to sadness around, considering I'd just felt shame hit me for running into him. Before I could make the connection, the charizard took off and the aerodactyl swooped after him.

Absol came up to me and entered my field of view, making me feel calmer quickly. Meanwhile, I heard Charizard take off with my excellent ears, and Magnezone near me as well.

I really should have made some sort of noise by this point, but at that point, the aerodactyl was tackling his charizard opponent towards the ground, straight at me. Absol didn't hesitate to grab me by the scruff and pull me away, protecting me from the collision.

"That would be Glurak, member of team Honor." Absol identified the charizard. "And I have never seen this aerodactyl before."

"So where's his team?" I asked, looking around.

"U-unknown-n" Magnezone warbled.

"Hang on, finale's starting.' Charizard interrupted, waving at us to pipe down. Sure enough, Glurak managed to outmaneuver the aerodactyl and slam him into the ground with a powerful attack, ending the fight. He looked scratched up, but not too bad.

"Bugger…" Glurak complained, looking around. "Where are my team now?"

"I don't know, mate, but I don't think you're going to find them around here." Charizard pointed out.

"Right." he looked around, looking at any landmarks he might be able to find. "Then the quicksand cave has to be over in that direction. Well, I'll go make sure they're fine. Later."

The quick farewell was punctuated by his immediate departure. We were left blinking dumbly in his general direction. "He didn't stick around long," Charizard noted blandly.

"Well, he has his team to get back to." I piped up quietly.

"I think Charizard is more commenting on a number of circumstantial encounters as we walk around the region. I have to admit, back in our region, we were almost always certain who we would come across and when. In this place, particularly with so many people, coincidences like that are probably going to be far more commonplace." Absol elaborated for the fire type. "Much more of such and I will become suspicious that there really is something causing us to meet so many people dispersed over the region 'randomly'.

And there was his paranoia spiking again. If his presence didn't grant me professionalism, I might even have deigned to let out a sigh. "I think we'll be fine." I said. "Even if it's not actually a coincidence, isn't it being completely harmless?"

Absol stopped and looked back at me. "...I'm sorry." he apologized eventually. "I know you get upset when I get paranoid. You've just had to deal with so much that I don't want to risk anything else becoming a problem."

"I-I…" I stammered "Well… I know. I just can't be injured physically… But my dreams can still be invaded. And I'm not all that strong mentally… So I get why you can get protective, but this kind of stuff really can't hurt me."

I shuddered. "Even if it still scares me…"

"You'll be all right." Charizard assured me. "Now, who's up for some more aimless walking?"

"Didn't we have a plan of action before?" Absol deadpanned.

"I-I am starting to think it hardly matters-s" Magnezone warbled. "A-as long as we go somewhere, we can do something interesting-g. I-I am relatively sure that the point of this tournament is for enjoyment-t."

"But with no clear objective…" Absol objected calmly "Will we keep changing course repeatedly?"

"I dunno, but I'm itching for some kind of fight." Charizard claimed.

"Then perhaps we can find Charizard's fight by wandering." Absol suggested "In the meantime, let us continue on. We have to find something relating to this tournament eventually."

⽛ **Daemyn's POV** ⽛

"It's quiet."

" **Too** quiet."

Machoke and I stood before Treasure Town again. It was eerily silent from a distance, compared to its normal livelihood. Almost everyone was cleared out.

"Welp, this'll be dull." Machoke decided, smiling to himself as he walked along into the town. We passed earthen homes of various complexities, taking in the sights as we entered. With hundreds of visitors, the point of entry we had taken was bound to have different paths available to us. And we weren't exactly making a beeline for the usual town.

"That one's not dull." I pointed out as we passed a nice looking house that somebody had decorated properly over the dirt that had constructed it.

"No, it's not. I stand corrected." Machoke smiled as we kept walking. "And that one five down the line. Somebody put some effort into it."

I tore my eyes away from the nice looking house over to where somebody had built a wooden one. "It's like a holiday decoration showcase." I commented happily. "I wasn't too interested in that stuff ten years ago, but just seeing something different from the pure dirt buildings surrounding them is pretty fun."

We trekked on until we saw somebody, an elderly couple resting. They didn't seem to happy to see us, though. Complaining something along the lines of how we were supposed to be anywhere other than here and letting them have their rest.

Eventually, though, I caught a familiar scent. My nose was great; I could tell what I was smelling. Caleb's words came to mind very specific ones, and I felt a little warm in the face. But that wasn't the important part. No, the important part was that my smell couldn't possibly be off.

"Machoke." I whispered. "I think there's a guildmaster **here** , in town."

Machoke blinked. "Uh, what? Shouldn't they be all over the place?" he asked.

"Yeah…" I recalled. "And it was against the rules to fire attacks in the town… But my nose isn't going to let me take that into account right now. Tell you what, why don't you ask around, try to wheedle information out of people, and I'll follow my nose."

He rolled his eyes. "It's possible to be wrong." he muttered. I frowned, but he continued. "Look, it just sounds totally outlandish because of the nature of the challenge and the rules of no attacks in the town. But if you think a guildmaster is hanging out in the safety of the town, feel free to follow your shnoz while I 'wheedle information out of people'.

I gave a toothy grin. "Good luck." I said as he bailed.

 _Now, to see if my nose has failed me for the first time._

I put my nose to the dirt and began moving forward, sniffing. The scent was a trail right now, taking me deeper into the expanded town in random directions.

In fact, it was leading me in one big, complicated, annoyingly random 'circle' comprised of dozens of village blocks. I walked around it three times before I even noticed I was going in this messed up circle, but the scent was definitely there. I just had to figure out where the heck the well-known guildmaster had gone.

I would definitely have been able to get it if they had gone off course after making a loop, but I didn't Somewhere on this path, this chick had gone to ground. And I needed to find her. I lifted my head and looked about.

 _Nope. Ordinary houses all around here._

So I put my nose almost to the dirt and started padding along while sniffing again. It felt just as strong as it always did, which was confusing. It should smell strongest where she was closest, not equally strong and-

 _Aaaaargh!_

Of course! Scent trails didn't work like this one, this one was the same strength all the way through! It was a trick! A dirty magic trick! And I was walking in circles like a bloody idiot! I hoped she enjoyed watching that, because now I was thirty times more determined to find where she was hiding. I took a walking lap around the path, looking from left to right to find anything suspicious.

Nothing, so I moved inwards, looking for more scents in the ring that was the original path. I would look up occasionally to see what was new around the town, and then go back to trying to find a scent. It took me ages, and I searched every corner of the place until I had rounded my way into the center of the area.

I looked around carefully, thinking this had to be where it was, and wasn't disappointed. It was behind the main plaza, in the middle of some tightly tucked-away buildings with narrower alleys. Hard to find place, but right there was a staircase downwards with a golden light emerging from it. Clever. So very clever.

I snuck down the stairs as best I could, emerging in a small room the size of two bedrooms put together. On the far wall was a small stand with a sphere resembling an emblem of some description. A flame in the front and seeming to be constructed of nine swirling tails wrapped into a sphere. The guildmaster's treasure.

And between it and myself the guildmaster. Her golden pelt shone in the torchlight as I deliberately avoided looking at her to see what else was in the room. Various nice decorations were set against the walls, large urns, various other treasures… It gave the impression of someone of royalty taking a few of their things with them when they went somewhere.

Wait, that was probably what happened. I rolled my eyes slightly, knowing the nine tailed fox before me wasn't actually so vain. The gold and bronze was easy on the eyes, and it reflected the torchlight in a very pleasant way that was no doubt intentional. Must have been that reflective aspect that she was going for with all the precious metal.

"So Ninetales." I greeted my soon to be opponent. "How'd you know I'd be the one to find you?"

She blinked, her tails waving back and forth as she watched me. "Hmm?"

I huffed, smiling now. "Ninetales, Ninetales, why must you be coy? You magicked a smell trail in a circle, and this is the center. And I'm the only guy with a great sniffer that you know personally."

"Oh, nonsense." she smiled back. "I am one hundred-eighty years old, Daemyn. I do not think it would have been even possible for someone in my position to not have met others with such a keen sense of smell. That being said, I did intentionally make that the challenge, and I did intend for someone with a good nose to be able to follow me. I will admit: I had been hoping you would be the first. And I was not disappointed."

My smile widened somewhat. "You wanted to see me?" I asked, knowing that we had to fight but wishing to get back at Ninetales for her silly game by making her embarrassed.

And it worked, too. Her ears perked up and she leaned back at my words and tone. "Now, just one minute." she protested, trying to maintain formality. "You surely aren't implying-"

"Oh, just a little bit. I had my conversation with Caleb, which was embarrassing enough, but hey, if you're that desperate to get some alone time with me during the tournament, I'll admit this was probably the best way to go about it without us making some kind of silly excuse to not do it."

Her eye was twitching for a bit. "You scoundrel." she accused, trying to force a frown, but unable to. "That was not my goal whatsoever, even if a friend's presence is a good one."

"So you didn't **expect** to see me, but you're **happy** to see me." I tried, grinning now.

"Rrr." Ninetales grumbled. "You make this difficult for me as a cheesy form of revenge for the trick?"

"You betcha." I nodded quite happily.

Ninetales rolled her eyes, but she definitely was failing to hide a smile. "Very well. I am happy to see you. Frankly, I find it better than if your friend had managed it simply by psychoanalyzing me. Your feat is… Well, a feat, considering I actually gave you some form of challenge. And you are a friend, which does make things even easier to enjoy. But right now, you are here for a treasure, which you can only gain by fighting me."

One of her tails flicked the treasure representation of the nine tailed crest as I readied myself instantly. "Alright, if you want to cut the chatter." I said, opening my mouth and preparing a shadow ball.

"Ah ah ah…" Ninetales teased suddenly, causing me to blink and disperse the shadow ball without firing.

"Uh?"

She smirked at me. "You can't use type aura attacks in the town… Remember?"

 _Oh… Crap._

I looked around, wondering what the heck I was supposed to do, until Ninetales sank into a battle stance. "I am quite afraid…" She began, and her eyes gleamed with mischievousness and a hidden enjoyment. "That we will have to fight without them."

⽯ **Caleb's POV** ⽯

"Alright, kids… I think it is about time for me to wake up." I smiled down at the two of them. Riley had gone back to the house, slightly annoyed with my shenanigans and letting me handle the kids by myself. Sheila was willing to help me by showing off flamboyant and very new cannons into the air, such as fireworks and other flashy attacks that served as a nice light show.

For my part, I told them stories and played with them however they asked once again. For some reason, hide and seek was still a favorite of theirs despite my absol sense being such an ingrained habit in my that I do not know if it was even plausible to stop without feeling rather cut off. In addition, I had managed to avoid being in a rubbery state in the dream… Until the kits asked me about what happened during my day. Then, they wanted to see it. So I had sighed and augmented my dream self temporarily so that they could do much the same thing as Erza did when she discovered my status as an animated rubber doll.

Being cut off from everything was not a happy prospect. I wanted to retain as much of my humanity as I could for as long as I was allowed, and gather what I had lost of it, but this aspect of my current species was undoubtedly something that I cannot go without.

It was more interesting when they wanted to play tag. I occasionally used mental tricks to teleport around and spook them for their amusement (and admittedly a little bit of mine) but only using my natural abilities to catch up to them. It was quite easy, pacing myself so that it was possible for them to tag me back.

But now our eight our games were coming to an end, and I was giving the pair of kits a smile as everything started fading. They could always make me feel happy, even if I did not want to be happy at times. They would look me in the eyes with their round, adorable puppy eyes and make me smile despite myself.

Oddly, this was a place where retaining my human roots seemed less important to me as well. I wondered why that was. The desire was **clearly** different from the other things that stress me out. It was an aspect of my mind I was fighting to keep, the most important part of me. And that stress I feel should constantly help me try to attain that goal.

But… When I started getting involved in the events here, It was almost like any stress, driving or negative, was just not feasible in a perfect scenario. But a perfect scenario this place would remain, for the sake of the people I raise.

Then I opened my eyes, and my day got worse.

My absol senses instantly alerted me to magic surrounding me, and I maintained my breathing. No use in panicking. I easily pretended to still be asleep, searching with my absol sense to find my surroundings.

There was Braixen, of course. I had slept, and paid for it. Frankly, whatever Braixen had in mind for me this time could not serve to increase her chances in the tournament considering where we were, which was the same place as before.

If she wished for revenge for my sending her into the sky, or wished to explain herself and apologize, or any other option, my goals were not to change; I needed to be cured and I needed Braixen to remain away from me at all costs.

If she put spells around me, I had every reason to believe that she would also do to keep me inside this area. I also felt sources of magic energy around in different places, such as an out of place magic circle fourteen meters behind me and seven meters to my left. Its purpose was unknown. I could not personally dictate which circle did what and if they did anything at all, due to my lack of understanding of magic in this world. I blamed the lack of logicality that said magic essentially represented.

Braixen was waiting patiently, and I believed that no further exposition was coming. I calmly and promptly sat up, causing one of the magic circles around me to make a pleasant (read: Irritating) chime that alerted the half-dozing braixen up immediately.

"Oh, good, you're awake." she smirked, all too happy with herself.

I glared. The temperature seemed to drop, which I extrapolated from the sudden shiver Braixen experienced. "This is a rude awakening, Braixen." I informed her bluntly, every syllable illustrating my distaste for her shenanigans.

"Oh, I know. Sorry, it just feels really, **really** satisfying to get the drop on **you** , you know?"

"I hardly would know. Any achievements of mine are my own. It is exceedingly difficult to surpass oneself in a competitive manner unless I aim to break a record. Progress is my goal, or, to put it in terms your words seem to imply you understand, success over others."

"Oof, that's a burn." Braixen chuckled. "If you weren't using as insulting as a deadpan as you could, I'd have thought you were making some sort of attempt at banter. Oh well, not everybody's on the rest of society's level."

Her insult glanced off my mind without leaving a scratch. "I do not need to be 'at society's level' in terms of laughter to succeed."

Braixen stopped chuckling and looked at me, confused. I stared right back at her, and her mirth vanished with another shiver.

"I just have to win." I told her drily. "Now, I suspect you have a specific ulterior motive for ensnaring me in such a magic prison. Had you simply come to gloat, I would be quite… Surprised."

Braixen blinked. "Damn. If I figured you would be more surprised by me doing nothing, that's what I would'a done."

"But you did not come here with that intent."

"Nope." she took her stick out of her tail. "See, I figured you'd come after me. Problem is, I remembered you blasting me into the sky, and I didn't want that to happen a **fourth** time to me when you inevitably ordered me to fix your stretchiness and I inevitably told you that I didn't have a countercurse on hand."

 _...Fair._

My begrudging thought was followed by a sense of dark curiosity. "And if perchance, you were to let me go eventually, I could still find you. Because you directly sought me out, I determined that walking away and letting the spell disappear as you got out of range of me was out of the question. That means you needed me to sit still for some long, arduous spell of yours that would inevitably impair my abilities in this tournament in a worse manner than turning me into a living bouncy toy."

"Yes, yes, and I got it completed while you were asleep. I just need to cast it." Braixen waved a claw in a circle in the air before her before setting both hands on her wand in a ready position. "And because you love knowledge so much, I might as well monologue about what I'm going to do, because you're in for the duration and can't counter magic.

 _I dislike the corruptive nature of such immense power._

"See, here's my nefarious plan." Braixen began to pace like a classic cartoon villain. "I was tossing and turning trying to sleep because I didn't know when you would pop up in the middle of the night like a monster in a horror story, so I needed to find a place you couldn't find. Problem was, I also want to find all of those treasures, win them, and win the second round of the tournament. Problem with that was, I can't hide and win at the same time, and you know me"

"The fact that you know me inevitably means you'll find me, because you've got all of those mind tricks. That makes the problem not your physical powers, not any type aura powers, not your human memories, not your popularity, but your mind."

 _I do not like where this is going._

"Now, obviously I'm not brilliant. Not brilliant enough to handle you, anyways. So only one thing really clicked for me as a solution."

"A solution to me."

"A solution to you." Braixen confirmed, nodding as she continued pacing. "And to deal with you, I have to deal with your mind."

That thought had built up for a few minutes in my mind, but until that moment a certain part of me had been confident in the higher state of morality that had been present in a majority of civilized life. Why, even the 'criminals' were simply messing around or pulling pranks or doing small, nearly meaningless crimes. But here was Braixen, one of those petty 'criminals'.

And she was claiming that she was going to do the one thing I feared the most. Affect my mind.

I couldn't help it. My eyes widened just barely enough to be noticed… And noticed it was. Braixen's expression switched from serious to surprised to a demented sort of glee. Something occurred to me in that single moment of panic before I composed myself. It was my influence, and thus my power, that drove people to these invasive lengths to defeat me. Her need to defeat me in a way that prevents retribution was bringing her past the moral code that had been accepted for as long as any living pokemon could apparently remember.

I mentally snorted. I was trapped in this world. I had to accept that my presence was going to have an influence on its inhabitants. Whether they be positive or negative. The only way to avoid that would be to hide away or completely surrender my human side and what's more, never mention it again. I had no intentions of doing any of those three.

But after my thoughts ran their course, fear returned. Braixen seemed to be chanting her spell as she drew a circle around herself that looked much like the inner circle around me. I quickly swiped my claws through the lines in the dirt, but the third layer out flashed, and the circle repaired itself. I attempted to reach the third one in something resembling desperation, but the second circle out flashed and my paw (and ankle) bent at an unnatural angle against an invisible wall right at the start of it.

Completely ensnared. A rat in a cage.

Her circle completed, Braixen finished her chanting and pointed her stick at me malignantly. I felt the push on my mind, and the inner circle glowed a violent shade of red. The assault on my mind began, and I could **feel** the imaginary walls of my thoughts being punctured and linked through the gap, a direct connection between Braixen and myself, the bipedal fox being the dominant mind due to the magic.

My mind instantly ran through about two dozen possibilities before I chose one. Mind control was fiction in my world. The ways around it were equally fictitious, but the closest I could think of in that moment was the invasive nature of legilimency in the Harry Potter franchise. And the counter to such an invasion was Occlumency in that fictional world. And the method of doing it was…

I sealed every thought, every memory, every single aspect of my mind and stuffed it all in a single mental container. I envisioned it not as anything physical, but the most impossible thing I could think of. I contained my very being in a mental image of what I would describe as impossibility.

But fictional stories were fiction for a reason. My defenses were blown to smithereens and I could **feel** it, exclaiming as a headache blossomed in my mind. I had to stop this…

 _I have to stop this I have to stop this I have to stop this I have to stop this-_

I could feel her rooting around for information, easily digging through my memories without my control.

 _It hurts I have to stop this I can't let this happen my mind is the most important thing I have it's the only thing I have I can't let this happen I have to stop this-_

Braixen entered the part of me where the things I knew were kept. If she got her hands on that, and decided to erase my statistical knowledge, it would tear me apart forever.

 _ThisneedstostopIcan'tIcan'tshe'sgoingtodestroymeandIneedtostopherandIneedtoprotectmyselfandIneedtoneedto…_

She tried changing something.

 _Pleasethiscan'thappenIneedmymindIneedtosurvivewithmymindintactBraixenisgoingtoanextremetostopmeandIcan'tdoanythingIcan'thandlethisIcan'tthinkanymoreI'mafraidI'mafraidI'mactuallyterrified-_

The fear suddenly, instantaneously, changed in me into something far different. Braixen hadn't changed anything yet, perhaps not even aware of my outer thoughts, but if she had, she would have evacuated immediately.

 _ **IhatethisIneedtodestroythisintruderIneedtoprotecttheonlythingIreallyhaveIwanttodestroyher-**_

 _ **HATE.**_

My mind exploded into full force, dropping panic and pulling every ounce of raw power in my mind and immediately found the source of the link, where she got in.

Then, I tore it wide open and threw Braixen out of it. She screamed in the real world, but I didn't care. I didn't care that she had just fallen to her knees. Because I had an opening, and Braixen was **never going to threaten my mind again.**

I drove my mind into hers, finding her entire mind waiting before me much like mine had been to her, and I didn't pick and choose what to rearrange. I just chose **pain**. And this time I heard Braixen's screams in her mind and in my ears as I forged ahead, finding her understanding of spells.

It was like an open book. Like the fictional wind reader glasses. Like a true source of information. I pulled what she knew of magic and its use into my mind, copying it. Then, I searched out the other things she had done to me. The rubber spell. That was gone. Just… Gone. No counterspell, she hadn't been lying. I forged ahead, disregarding the fear I felt all around me as I encroached on her mind.

Her mind altering and invading spells. Those were gone too. I didn't even hesitate. And I put a single thing in its place, a loud, unavoidable thought in its place in case she ever tried to learn it again.

 _ **You. Will. Not. Affect. My. Mind. Again.**_

And suddenly, the rage just… Left me. I was looking at a mind other than mine, filled with pain and forcefully augmented. I was still angry, infuriated even, but I wasn't going to attack her any longer. The damage had been done. I was going to be safe from Braixen now, and in situations that didn't involve me, it will not cause issues.

A part of me deep inside screamed at me to hurt her more, to teach her exactly why I was not to be trifled with. The same voice that had helped me succeed for so long. It was **my** voice, the part of me that knew what to do to succeed, to get far in society so that my contributions will mean something to the world, the part of me that allowed me to bend the world to my will.

And I turned it down. Just this once, I have to focus on my morals, because this was the time I had enough power that morals actually mattered. And those morals will start to matter again as I gain power in this world. For now, I could let it lie and get my jobs done, and maybe even finish everything I want to do in my lifetime.

I backed off and sealed the gap tight, looking around. The magic circles had been blown away easily by the wind, and I knew why. Her magic had been using her energy to be active, and I had effectively drained that connection in my destructive path.

I stalked forward, finding Braixen on her knees and hunched over, her arms over her head, shivering in fear. Her stick was abandoned in the dirt beside her. "Stop… Please…"

I stiffened.

"Please… It hurts… You made your point…"

I had heard those words before. Not towards myself, but to someone else. The rest of my anger immediately died away as I staggered back for a moment, but the part of me that knew what to do to succeed put my success over my feelings before I could break down, and I spoke up. "I will not do that again… Provided you do not invade my mind again."

"I won't, I won't I swear!"

I closed my eyes. "Please, listen to me for a moment."

My now calm voice must have made me seem like an entirely different person, because my mental map showed Braixen slowly removing her arms from in front of her and opening her eyes slightly, before flinching back down as if realizing I was still the one that hurt her. "My mind is the most important thing I have. It's the only thing I have left of my old world, of my old life. And I will protect it with my life, and with my rage… Even if that rage is less than rational. Understand this… And please move along. If you can't help me, I don't know who other than Goldeneye can. And I doubt I will just happen across her. My luck will not be that good."

During that speech, she had slowly uncovered her eyes again, still shivering, but she nodded weakly. "I-I understand, Caleb… I'm… I shouldn't have done that…"

"It is partially my fault, I suppose." I admitted. "However I came to be in this world, my presence has had a profound effect on society, an inescapable effect. But while some are positive, the increasingly progressive thinking and the emphasis on learning and understanding, others are negative. Such as in your case. You became obsessed with defeating me and protecting yourself in the process, but I fear my influence, and having exposed the world to my culture through popular demand of movies and games, have consequences such as those alternate and less valuable morals."

She didn't say anything, but I knew she had gotten it. I had invaded the deepest recesses of her mind. I knew what would reach her.

I turned to walk away, but I heard her voice croak. "Look… Sir… I… I get your reasoning, and that fear… I've seen it."

"Of course you did. You pierced my mind." I retorted without turning back around.

"But…" she murmured, taking deep breaths as she stood up slowly and steadied herself weakly. "Just... I don't know if you've really noticed, but… You're really not one to talk about obsessions."

I frowned. She had most certainly been in my mind. I was going to snap at her, but those awful words from before rang in my ears. She'd had enough. "Please." I said, closing my eyes. "Just leave…"

She did. Leaving me alone with the mechanisms that defined one of those obsessions.

But I had a reason for having those obsessions! I had very valid fears and I couldn't let my mind just slip… They kept me grounded on who I am!

I stumbled forward and set my paw on the nearest boulder, barely registering my elbow bend backward as I put weight on it.

" _Stop… Please... Please… It hurts…" ...Shit… I was just as bad, wasn't I?_

I leaned there, my eyes shut tight until the words stopped echoing in my head. It took a long time. Once I finally had my mind in a condition that I could feasibly do things, I stood up and looked over the untouched tools and machine on the ground.

 _... I had better get back to work…_

* * *

 **That might be the darkest thing that's happened so far in TAC2. Not saying TAC because that had some literally dark stuff. But in all honesty, when you realized what Braixen was doing and knowing Caleb's serious defensiveness of his mind, did you expect anything different? What's more, you really just learned how powerful his mind is. His knowledge isn't immeasurable, but his mind has a lot of force behind it. Enough to, in combination with his intellect, negate mental control and mind reading. He's done it before, if you remember him blasting off the cheering charm, but I think this is the first time you really saw what happens when he unleashes the full force of his mind on someone.**

 **Erza is making some realizations of her own, and then there's her challenge. Against a goodra of the guildmaster variety and a legendary being of willpower. Do you think she can handle it?**

 **Daemyn finds Ninetales in the least likely place, and as one might say, therefore the most likely place. And Daemyn now has to fight without using type aura attacks, which basically means he has to fight with actual fighting skills. Question to ask yourselves: Would there be a good reason that Ninetales would do that?**

 **And Sarah and Shedinja don't find a guildmaster in the Quicksand Cave. Instead, they find an unhelpful Mesprit and part of team Honor, who must have had a similar idea to theirs. Similar, not identical. Whereas Amber and CO. meet the last member of that team who got separated.**

 **Otherwise, not much. A lot of buildup for the next one. However... I will be attempting the November 50,000-word challenge in an original story I devised, so my writing schedule may slow even more than before. Sorry, just wanted to warn you.**

 **Please review, give me your thoughts and tell me how you felt, and I hope you are excited for the next chapter!**


	25. Chapter Twenty-Five

**So I'm embarassed.**

 **Jango: Tell them how dumb you are! I can't wait to hear this!**

 **Me: ... (Gives a long sigh) For a long time, I've been using the phrase 'tic mark' to convey the anime angry mark, the bulging veins. While writing this chapter, I discovered something painful; 'Tic marks'? Those are actually the same as check marks. (Facedesks)**

 **Jango: SOOO he's totally lacking in a way to easily convey the anime angry mark in his story from here on out. I was just WAITING for him to notice this.**

 **Me: (Glares at Jango) Ugh... Whatever... Anyways, my buddy West told me that it's actually been a really freaking long time since I updated this. Mostly due to my writing numerous other stories, a decision I fail to regret of course. But before you get to the long awaited chapter, I had better respond to reviews.**

 **The dude with no Life: I don't remember if I addressed your reviews to chapters nineteen and twenty last time. Doing it again!**

 **If Shedinja did say that, then Yes, your rationale suggests his opinion is flawed. I never intended a ninjask to be a part of this story, to be honest, so I suppose the latter option you present could be the purpose.**

 **As for the other review you left, the balls of 'energy' are not literal energy. Energy is the capacity to preform work. Take MatPat's video on DBZ's Kamehameha as an example of a similar argument. I am not saying that shadow balls and energy balls and other things like that are plasma. Some of them have plasma-like properties, but not all of them do. The type auras are described as energies sometimes, but they are unique kinds of elements. Basically, they're like my blank check. A concept I invented to decide how this particular world works, or partially how it works, meaning these elements don't have to obey the same laws that govern types of matter or energy in our universe. As for whether Caleb would question it, it's not as likely as he would be to question something like magic, or the middle finger to physics known as attacks that create matter. He's less likely to complain about type auras because the type aura 'energy' was presented to him as something quantifiable, something he can work with and understand.**

 **Finally, Gengar explained that in this universe, the function of a nine-tailed crest is to significantly advance the power of a ninetales' curse. Other things he says during that scene between him, Amber and Gardevoir are important for answering that question too.**

 **To West, I would say that Sarah's battle is going to have to be just beginning. She's had a few shocks that have put it off momentarily, but we all know it's not going to just happen to get better out of nowhere. I don't like writing it THAT way. I don't mean to say I think you're implying that I might do that, I just felt the urge to clarify it.**

 **Hey, What Lies Beyond. I don't want to delve too much into what Braixen was thinking and why she was thinking it. I feel it's important for things like that to be extrapolated from the events of the story. But I was interested to hear that you didn't think his reaction was particularly extreme. It gives me further perspective of what opinions different people have.**

 **I'm glad I conveyed how much Caleb depends on and values his mind, Aewynessa. You sharing how you felt about the chapter really helped me understand what I did right and what I did wrong, and I'm happy to say I consider last chapter to be very successful. I hope this one is as well. As for Shedinja and Sarah, I love seeing how characters will interact with their differing opinions. Communication is how you understand someone, after all, even if you disagree. And to hear that it's your favorite chapter thus far lightens my steps a bit. Well, it did, until I learned I've been misusing the phrase 'tic mark' for I think more than a year now. I'll get over it.**

 **Appreciate the confirmation that I covered my topics well, AveragePichu.**

 **To be direct, unAnonymous, no. Caleb's mental strength does not manifest itself in a more psychic way. As long as you aren't directly accessing his mind, you're safe from that, unless he uses his intellect against you. I already made him stronger than a normal absol in exchange for being weak to status, so I think he's covered in the augments department. Oh, and nobody's told him about mental herbs yet, even though he's asked about for help with the attract problem. I guess they forgot that one.**

 **That's quite a time skip there, AGuyWithNoSkills. Can't directly answer questions about the total nature of the dream world, you lot will have to analyze it and theorize without my aid. It's interesting to me that you think Erza is still having trouble with her philosophying problem. I refuse to mention whether I expected you all to think it was over or not when I had her start to work through it, but...**

 **I feel you though, NoSkills, about attract. I once got parafusioned plus attract and then flinchlocked. It was way overkill for the guy who did it to me when I did an online match. I do hope I gave a good reason that Mesprit couldn't follow the pattern of convenience and solve Sarah's problems. As for Ninetales and Daemyn, SHE didn't do it for the shipping. She did it because she's trying to throw people off in the tournament. Now me, I most certainly absolutely one hundred percent did it for the shipping. It just worked out because it was something that Ninetales would do.**

 **Now, the 50k word challenge bombed for me. I got a good start on my completely original story "Infinity", but I had so many other things to do I didn't have a prayer of fully completing the challenge. Thank you for the review. Have a nice day.**

 **To the guest who reviewed my chapter 11, thank you, and duly noted.**

 **to Jooi3141-**

 **Jango: (Hops up) Hang on a second, buddy boy. This guy seems like the kinda guy I like. Straightforward, no mincing his words, and causing you as much confusion as possible.**

 **Me: ...Shut up, Jango. Jooi, I'm not entirely sure where you got that, but I refuse to verbally confirm or deny anything. I hope I can keep up the great work too.**

 **Finally, we have Zlaxe. I'm not entirely sure what you mean when you say you think Caleb's outburst is a 'warning', because I'm not sure what context you mean 'warning' in. I'm not entirely sure what** **aphrodisiac is, but Caleb will recognize the berries, as I do. I always thought they smelled nice when crushed, but I doubt I'd want to eat one of them. That will come up eventually, and you'll know what berries they were if you don't already. It's nice to see what's going on with Sarah's home at this point in time addressed. I felt it was necessary because otherwise, I might have put it to the sidelines for a long time, and I don't think that's a good idea in terms of story.**

 **Jango: (Pushes me aside) Whoah, whoa, buddy. Yes, you, maniacal laughing bugger. Anything this story's fourth wall connects to is MY pranking territory, got it? Got it!?**

 **Me: (Facedesks)**

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty-Five: Victory**

⽯ **Caleb's POV** ⽯

My mind runs at several miles a minute constantly. I'm not going to pretend that that's probably why I can't let things go.

Everything that kept my reputation and my overall plan, **and** my sanity to boot, in one piece was my ability to keep my emotions together and act purely on logic and reason. And I hadn't. I'd lost my temper.

And soon after I'd started working on the machinery I'd acquired, my traitorous mind had started nagging me about the consequences of losing my temper this time. Had I gone through that situation again, my reaction would have been identical. I value the things I've set in motion, or rather, controlling the implications of my very existence so as to avoid disaster, but I value my mind more. Regardless, the result had its repercussions.

For one, in my fit of anger, I hadn't made certain Braixen wouldn't go talking about it. While I didn't assume she would run to a bunch of people and claim I'd viciously attacked her, because they would be more inclined to trust me. But she would definitely speak of it to someone. Goldeneye, I thought, might learn of this because Braixen idolized the powerful delphox. So to gauge how worried I should be, I considered how Braixen had acted before she left. Very subdued, for one, which implied I'd hit her hard and she'd realized her mistake. I had reason to believe that it was my own influence that affected the extent that Braixen went to to achieve her goals. After all, part of my influence had been the forms of media I'd shared with pokemon upon request, despite my making it all too clear that this society should do everything it can to take those media outlets and their systems as things that work in that fictional world, not this very real one. And if they wanted something, to ask me about whether I think it could negatively affect the world.

There were easily foreseeable problems with this. For one, I can hardly expect an entire world's worth of sentient creatures to uniformly treat me seriously. It was just imperative to make myself respected enough that such a vast majority would take me seriously that the rest would succumb to peer pressure. Second, if someone does defy the odds, it could cause a lot of potential chaos.

Looking at this machine, I was starting to think I'd missed something. I didn't like that. Daemyn's description of the trap he fell into gave me great pause, because I didn't have a reason to believe the trap would stop at just knocking them out. There wasn't any obvious safety built into these things, as if someone was inspired by the idea of technology, but had not the forethought to actually make it safe.

And that was my analysis of a pokemon mindset. If a pokemon defied what I've learned about the surprisingly sustainable peace in this society and actually was going out of their way to hurt others to the point of destruction, this would be the way to do it. Right now, almost every pokemon in the region was separated across it. I couldn't send out a mass warning myself. That meant that I had two options.

The first was to wait until the game was over. This was probably not the best choice in any category. I would have a full audience, but there is a much greater risk for others to be captured like the sandslash and her child was, and like Daemyn had been. My other and much better option was to locate Goldeneye in the hopes that her seemingly endless supply of remarkably convenient magic could help me get a viral message out to everyone, but that ran a risk too. For one, if Braixen found her first, she would be much less likely to help me even if I explained the situation. Though, for lack of a better term, I have little understanding of her personality because she acts somewhat closed off. The other risk is that if I can't find her before the game ends, I run the risk of being far from the town, which would cause me to fail to get there on time, also making it so that more pokemon could get caught and hurt.

The second option would require me to run like mad in random directions, frankly, in the hopes of just happening across her. Things conveniently tended to work out in this world, but I wasn't putting that to chance. All it told **me** was that considering the laws of probability, my luck was running out.

I chose to try and find Goldeneye. But that meant I needed to go right away. I knew what I needed to know from this machine, but I couldn't afford to keep it around. I took the few pieces I used to make the smaller version in case I needed to make a demonstration to prove my honesty, a contingency plan, and looked at the rest.

I certainly wasn't going to leave spare parts for the perpetrator to use in later traps. Expressionless, I charged up a psycho cut and attacked the parts, and then did it again and again. Once I'd reduced it to scrap metal, I slid the small parts I'd kept with me for later into my bag and turned to look around me.

 _Goldeneye has shown great intelligence even in her field, whether it's scientific or not. And considering she has an adopted son that is young enough to do things for fun and adventure, though that's a human age-related idea… Most pokemon seem to seek out that lifestyle regardless of age, but Goldeneye and Goldfinger seem exceptions to this constant, among others. So serious and intelligent parents with an excitable young boy they're raising… What's a reasonable place for them to be?_

For one, they most certainly would not be seeking out easy places. If Skyfall wanted adventure and fun, they probably wouldn't go to a place that had such weak dungeon construct opponents that they could win by giving fierce glares. In fact, they were a well-known team with powerful capabilities, meaning they would likely go to much more challenging places. While I knew little about Goldfinger other than that he and his family share names with movies in my own world, and considering their close connection just like the connection to the movies was an unbelievable coincidence in of itself, I knew Goldeneye did enjoy fixing problems and designing magic. It was why she had been so willing to help me on numerous occasions, even allowing me an easy method of teaching and sharing information with large amounts of other people.

But I didn't think that would help me too much. Her wanting to help others and develop magic in the process doesn't correspond to any particular mystery dungeon to my knowledge, and thus wouldn't fit in with the choices they as a family might make when catering to their son's will for family time.

 _Goldeneye also wishes to learn. That means… Yes, she is likely either going to the cave with the floating stones filled with electricity and showing significant enough magnetic fields to float in mid-air. Another possibility is the strange new phenomenon in the dungeons marked by patches of bare dirt that absorb victims and have unique designs._

Based on these thoughts, the three most likely dungeons that would both follow Skyfall's will and Goldeneye's will were first the dungeon in which sight was unavailable and contact shone through the darkness in expanding circles, second the chargestone cavern, and perhaps third the fairy dungeon that had been located that, despite being of the same nature as the first, had an entirely different structure and system, and some contradictory aspects.

My mind wandered off for a moment.

 _Since I came to this world, a significant number of oddities have arisen. These dungeons that fail to follow the patterns of the ones that existed prior, for example. The pillars like the one Daemyn found and marked that might have something to do with it. The emotion sensitive crystal that could produce literal energy from that emotion… All of these things came into being seemingly within weeks of my appearance in the world. I have no clues about what exactly put me here. Come to think of it, far too many things were strange about those days._

I turned in the direction of where I remembered the invisible dungeon had been.

 _The last time I was in there, I complained of Erza tasting like spinach. Come to think of it, it is rather embarrassing that I commented on such a thing at all. I feel like normal nowadays, but can my conflicting instincts really have caused me to act with such strange enthusiasm for jokes? Perhaps, but I'm somewhat skeptical. I will have to put more thought into_ _ **that**_ _, but right now I have something very serious to do._

I bounced a little on my legs, which gave in their current unnatural way, and remembered again how I would have to run efficiently. Then I began sprinting down the correct path, confident I was giving myself a decent shot at finding her.

⽊ **Erza's POV** ⽊

"Yaaaaah!"

I nailed guildmaster Goodra right in the face with my flail at high velocity, still holding onto it as I then landed and used his rather squishy face to launch myself at Azelf, smirking as I prepared to give him a good flurry with my rapier.

I instead hit an invisible wall right before him and it seemed to explode at me, the invisible force sending me straight into a boulder away from the legendary pokemon, who had his arms crossed. He looked pretty unamused.

Me, though, I stalled for a moment, a little dizzy. "Welp. That didn't work out the way I wanted it to." I complained as I started picking myself out. Goodra kinda looked fine. I guess having a squishy body makes physical attacks worth a lot less. This could take a while.

I started whirling my flail in my leafy hand, smirking as it spun faster and faster and made its violent humming noise. They just kind of watched me. It made sense, they were totally defensive right now, they only had to be. It was them that was guarding something.

I faced Azelf, about to release my weapon, but then hurled it at Goodra instead. Azelf didn't do a thing. Goodra stood his ground and took the attack right in the belly, but his squishy body retracted as my flail sunk into it, and then he thrust his belly forward, and the flail followed suit immediately. I yelped and bent over backward, my own flail sailing right over me and into the far wall where it crushed the wall and became buried in fallen crystals.

I raised myself straight and looked back at it. "Okay…" I muttered.

 _At least I learned something. They have no teamwork. They're just doing the same job._

Problem was, one guy was so squishy that physical attacks wouldn't work, and the other guy's willpower-boosted psychic powers would make him practically untouchable. So the flail was out. My sword was sharper; It could do more damage. So it was best to use it I just had to throw stuff at Azelf to see what stuck, though.

I ignored my flail and charged with the rapier, letting my speed scarf give me an enormous boost. I was right at the very large pokemon in a split second, and started jabbing him at lightning speeds with my blade. He grunted with each strike, his eyes narrowing.

"You aren't bad." he complimented me, sounding somewhat bored, and then his mouth glowed purple.

"That's not good, is it?" I asked nobody in particular. Then I jumped away as a blast of dark purple liquid-like stuff flew from his open mouth to the ground where I had stood, and it exploded in a steaming sludge. "Nope, definitely not." I sweatdropped at the sight of the steaming sludge bomb attack. That wasn't going to be amazing to fight.

He opened his mouth again, and this time a violently twisting and vibrating blue and white and red energy started generating in his mouth. He fired the attack, which acted like some sort of fusion between a beam and a tornado of those colors, forcing me to dive out of the way again. The explosion was **really** intense, and I was smashed against the wall even though I'd gotten a long ways away.

 _Ow._

I was upside down, embedded in some crystals. Some had even cut into me because of how quickly I'd hit them, but I wasn't going to just keel over, no way. I flopped to the ground before standing myself up. "You're pretty darn tough." I complimented the guildmaster. He was. Absurdly tough. It made me wonder what gave him that boost. "But I'm not just gonna fall over, you hear me!?"

"Admirable," Goodra said as he took some steps towards me. "Even though you clearly never taught yourself your enemies' abilities, you persevere in other ways. But you can improve."

"Uh…" I drew a blank. What abilities did a goodra have?

"I watched you during your battle in the first third of the tournament," he commented, calmly standing like before. "All of your attacks are primarily of the grass type, and you depend on those. But what will you do if you come across an opponent that uses that to his advantage?" he raised his paws in a gesture. "My ability is Sap Sipper. My type auras greatly fluctuate and grow upon every hit from any grass type attack."

 _Ah…_ _ **Shit**_ _._

⌁ **Jake's POV ⌁**

"Nope."

"Really?"

I crossed my arms. "That sucks," I complained. "I really thought checking out caves that weren't mystery dungeons would be a great way to get something."

"There are probably a lot more caves than this." Swampert reminded me.

"I get that there's supposed to be a bunch of tricks being played on everyone, but **I**. **Am**. **Bored**!" Jess punched the stone wall to emphasize her point.

"Yeah, we probably should go to some dungeon, right?" I asked.

"It'd be great for training for the third part of the tournament!" Shulk added, punching the air a bit. Both Jess and he were anxious to get back to action. I was too, a little bit. Swampert was the laid back one, but still.

"Alright, we'll get out of here." I asserted, and started walking towards the brightly lit opening again. In a minute we covered our eyes with our arms as the sunlight struck us again.

Man, it was a beautiful day. There were a few fluffy white clouds in the sky, the sun shone brightly down, and we were in the forest, I'd wager without looking at the map squarely between the treeshroud forest and mystery jungle dungeons. And it was a pretty place to wander about, not a part of the dungeon. The evergreen pines mixed with some large leaf bushes and berry bushes and trees occasionally lying around made for a very pretty location, but the best was probably the rocky outcroppings made of piles of moss-covered stones, making the area seem hilly. These outcroppings also contained caves every once in a while, whether a pokemon made them for a home or they were naturally formed.

There were some of them inhabited, which was really awkward when we found out. After we'd startled that one orchynx, we learned at least their species left markers around their cave. I told them we were very sorry to have barged in because we didn't know, though Jess very reasonably pointed out that if you weren't trying to look for them, you wouldn't have seen the marks, which kind of made it pointless for outsiders at least.

Despite my apology and Jess' annoyance neutralizing each other, we were forgiven and sent on our way.

Now that we were in the sun amongst the trees, it was hard to keep our minds on the task at hand due to the pretty environment.

Swampert spoke up first, getting down to business. "The closest dungeons are the mystery jungle and treeshroud forest. The first really isn't the kind of place you take kids. No offense, Shulk."

"None taken!"

"But treeshroud forest probably isn't going to have any guildmaster in it. It'd be **really** random if it did." I replied, crossing my arms. "The worst that could happen in the mystery jungle is that we use a few reviver seeds, because we can handle it and just have to protect the others."

 **Wham!**

"Do you really think you need to protect us? I can put you in the dirt in one punch!" Jess boasted as I picked myself up.

"That wasn't nice…" I complained weakly.

"That's called tough love, got it?" Jess asked, her fists sparking. "If you gave us a chance you'd probably find out we're tough as nails!"

"I believe you... " I stood up. "That was harder than you needed to hit me, though…"

"I told you, it's called tough love," Jess told me, reaching up and patting me a few times on the head. "For a shy guy, you talk about protecting people a lot."

 _Why the heck does she say things in that way?_

"Um…" I was able to get out.

"So what's all that about? You know I'm amazing at punching things. Shulk's pretty kickass too. But you start trying to act tough real quick when something comes up. What, do I **seem** weak?"

I quickly waved my paws in a mixture of surrender and reassurance. "No, no! That's not it at all!" I assured her, feeling my face heat up a bit.

"Then what is it, Jake?"

"Um…" I couldn't meet her eyes. "I uh… Don't totally know myself."

She got a few bulging veins showing on her head. "You are **so weird**."

We were cut off by a booming chuckle, and turned to Swampert in unison. "What's up, Swampert?" I asked, confused.

"Oh, nothing. Nothing at all." He denied, shrugging. "Anyways, we might as well head to the mystery jungle dungeon."

I sweatdropped. "Uh… Okay. Mystery jungle it is." I muttered.

⽊ **Erza's POV** ⽊

I did **not** have a plan of attack. With Azelf kinda minding his own business, I was trying to deal with goodra first, but goodra was just gonna get more and more absurdly powerful with each stab of my sword. I guess holding back wasn't gonna work.

Their eyes widened a bit when I enveloped myself in the white flames of quick attack. "Are you trying to tell me you can sustain a quick attack along with your speed band and stay in control? I have half a mind not to believe that." Goodra boomed, bracing himself.

Azelf's eye flashed as he widened it slightly, seeming as if he was staring into my soul. "She can." was all he said.

I crouched down a bit in preparation, smirking. "If you're just gonna get stronger and stronger, I'd better kick your ass before you can launch any attacks!" I shouted, and then I blasted forward in a seeming beam of white.

Then I was just attacking. Hit him from one angle, bounce away, rebound, strike at him again. I stabbed at his malleable body as many times as I could muster with my rapier before I couldn't risk anymore and bounced away again. He roared in pain each time, telling me that even having a type disadvantage I was going strong.

He opened his mouth and prepared a dragon pulse. If every sword strike made his power rise, then man was that not a fantastic thing to be hit by. He turned towards where I guess he figured I'd be and started to launch it. I didn't risk it. I blasted myself into the open space of the massive cavern, watching the water whiz by me as I sailed over it and caught myself on the nearest convenient giant crystal structure at the water's edge.

Then the big boom happened. I looked back while giving myself a breather, and met a ton of wind in my face as everything on the other side of the lake was blown up."Holy crap, this guy is crazy O.P!" I complained aloud.

Then I sweatdropped.

 _That's totally my fault, too._

Goodra appeared as the dust started to settle, looking across the lake. "Quite a jump," he said, though I could only tell that from such a distance by reading his lips.

Azelf's telepathy reached me and him, though, he must have been a distance away. "Watch your fire, guildmaster." he mentally ordered calmly. "You let your power grow too strong."

 _Ah-hah! He's too OP for his own good and now he can't risk launching attacks unless he wants to risk destroying the lake! I'll take it!_

I then wondered where the tangela twins were. I hoped they were fine. I activated quick attack again, because I wanted to take the guildmaster down right now and deal with the legendary afterward. I dropped to the floor right by the water's edge and decided to just go full speed.

Being able to run on water felt **so good**.

Quick attack plus speed scarf plus rapier equals a hell of a lot of attacks, and I just kept slashing away at the guildmaster, seeing him totally fail to fight back. He swung an aqua tail at me a couple times—at this point, one of those could probably one hit KO me—but he was way too slow for me to actually be hit, so I just kept blasting around him like a green and white beam.

It took a hell of a long time, but he eventually just fell over unconscious. I landed and pulled off my speed band momentarily, sighing as my eyesight snapped back to normal. I needed a breather.

As a plus, though, I hadn't had to make flails and swords over and over again, so it hadn't cost me too much grass type aura, but my normal type aura had taken a pretty big hit. Could I somehow use my grass type aura or some other aura I had to do the same thing as my quick attack?

 _No, I don't think that'll work-_ _ **ow**_ _!_

I slammed into a wall because of an unseen force, and managed to push myself to my feet quick. "That was rude!" I shouted.

"Ruder than goading a guildmaster to trash my lake?" Azelf sounded just a smidge ticked off.

"He fired, not me." I shot back. "And look at it, it's fine. Besides, you can just go and fix anything that does break, I figure."

He facepalmed. "I am a psychic being of willpower, and Uxie doesn't like being treated as blueprints. To get it just right, I'm going to have to ask a team of magic users to do the job for me. I certainly won't enjoy that."

"Sorry man, I've just got something to do." I shrugged. Then I pointed at him. "I'm gonna kick your butt if you don't hand over that treasure!"

"Your determination is too strong for your own good." Azelf told me, and my eyes widened as a blue energy started surrounding him. "Every ounce of strength you gather from your force of will I can match equally, and use my own strength to gain an advantage. You have **no** hope of besting me the way you are now."

I chuckled. "Then I'll do my best! You can't tell me I haven't any hope, man, that's just arrogant!"

He was silent, floating there with his arms crossed, and I took a moment to look around for my tangela twins.

"Your teammates are fine."

Azelf must have read my mind. Great. I turned to him curiously.

"They attempted to sneak up on the treasure while you were distracting us. I decided to tie them in knots and set them down just outside this cavern. Once I smash you into the ground enough times for you to fall unconscious, I'll make sure the three of you get out safely." he promised. Welp. So much for that plan. I hadn't even seen that happen.

I needed to start coming up with a plan, so it was time to distract Azelf, so I came up with a quick question: "What's with the blue energy?"

Azelf paused for a moment, but decided to answer me. "The strength of my psychic powers does not come from my intellect or focus like most others. It comes from my willpower, which is a trait unique to me. I suppose that is why it is blue."

"Uh… You're sure it's not because **you're** blue?"

He crossed his arms. "Uxie and Mesprit both have pink psychic energy. Uxie is not pink. I am their brother, so why would my color matter?"

"Good point." I agreed. This guy should be introduced to Caleb, I figured.

"Now if you're done trying to distract me while you come up with your fancy plan…" Azelf put one arm behind his back and turned to the side, giving me a sidelong look as he pointed his right hand at me. A glass-looking sphere expanded in front of him, almost bigger than he was, filled with red and blue lightning crackling from the center at and around the outside. I'd never seen an attack like it, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was that I didn't know what it did.

But I put my plan into action and jumped to his left, bouncing off a crystal that stuck out of the ground and flying right at his face with a new flail in hand, ready to smash him. He did the same thing to me as before, slamming me with an invisible wall of psychic energy and threw me to the ground. I looked up only to see him point his fancy attack at me and launch it, and **holy crap that thing was fast**.

I managed to leap out of the way as it violently exploded against the ground, and looked back at Azelf, who already had another one of those things in his right hand. He looked **super** cocky with his other arm behind his back like that.

 _What the heck was that!?_

"This is psycho boost. Normally, a psychic type would have to use so much energy to use this attack that they would have to conserve energy for the rest of the battle and ration their remaining psychic type aura into their attacks," he explained, as if, and he probably was, reading my thoughts. That's how he knew where I was going to be so I couldn't catch him off guard.

He lowered it a bit so I could see his eyes. "But I gather strength from others' very force of will. I won't **ever** run out of psychic power. That… Is why little ol' me is a legendary pokemon. And it is why you won't get past me."

"You really like to hear yourself talk!" I exclaimed as I felt for my normal type aura. It was weaker than I wanted it to be. On the verge of running out, because I'd kept up quick attack for a long time during the fight with Goodra. I'd made it across the region once doing that, but I'd used up a lot more energy because I actually poured that energy into hitting him instead of just taking the gradual energy loss from just using it. I didn't have enough to last too long, so I really had to make it count.

That meant I had to be tricky. I geared up, holding my weapons and prepared to attack.

Azelf's eyes narrowed. "You plan to attack from behind while thinking about attacking from the right." he accused me.

 _Dammit!_

No, I was **definitely** not getting a hold of this guy without quick attack. I cursed myself. Maybe I wasn't getting that thing after all.

 _What the hell am I saying!?_

I stood tall, pounding my chest with my hand. I was **not** giving up. This cocky priIck was going down!

I just needed to find a way to do it. And I had to think about it **after** I dodged the next psycho boost, because right now my face was the target. I dove to my left and hurled my flail at him, watching as it just bounced off another psychic wall, being rejected and flipping into the lake. I quickly made a third flail and started using my head, even if he could read my thoughts.

Quick attack worked by… Well, I didn't understand exactly how it worked, all I knew is that I went really fast when I used it. I needed another way to boost my speed. What other moves did what quick attack did? There was extremespeed, but that also used normal energy. And it used more, I'm pretty sure. There was aqua jet, but not only was I not a water type, I spent absolutely no time training up my water type aura energy, so even if I miraculously managed to manipulate what I had for an aqua jet, it would be really weak, **and** it would last like a second before it died out. I think flame charge could do it, and then that boosted someone's speed directly, but flame charge wasn't like the other moves. Do it wrong, and I was more likely to just set myself on fire and hurt myself. Not that I had enough type aura energy in terms of fire to produce... Well any fire, I'm pretty sure. So that was out. Was there a priority electric type move?

Even if there was, it wouldn't do any good against Azelf. He was super quick with those psychic walls, his psycho boost was powerful, and he could read my movements, well, thoughts.

I had other tricks, but I couldn't just use them…

So what would he do if I did something new?

I released my vines and started to surround him with them, slowly making a cage. If the tangela could make a cage, so could I. Maybe I could keep myself close by jumping from vine to vine, even if they were my own vines. I just had to tie them down to something so gravity didn't give me a smack on the wrist.

For good measure, I decided to wrap him up in a vine to keep him still. It was weird that he wasn't doing anything, but who was I to complain? I smirked and jumped at him, reading to bash him over the head.

Then he was gone, and my flail shoved aside the wrap of vines he'd left behind.

 _The heck!?_

 **Boom!**

I shouted in pain as I felt a searing heat on my side and was thrown into a wall, smashing the crystals so that I was kind of resting in an Erza-shaped crater in the wall. "Ow…" I complained. What the heck just happened to me?

I heard the legendary in my head again. "I am also capable of teleportation, for your information."

God, he sounded so friggin **cocky**.

"So that's what a psycho boost feels like, huh?" I asked, climbing out. "Didn't hurt too-ow-bad."

He didn't speak a word, just floating where he'd blasted me. I retracted my vines slowly, realizing I wasn't in great shape. But it didn't matter. I couldn't lose, not this time. I had to do something to stop that mind reading.

I tried filling my head with thoughts, as many random thoughts as I could while I started running forward. I leapt up and swung, but he just shifted to the side in mid-air and let me start falling towards the water. I shook my head and shot a vine out, wrapping around one of the many crystals sticking out of the ground and pulled myself back to the solid surface.

"Just because there's a lot of things to hear doesn't mean I can't pick out the right one," Azelf added as he floated where he'd dodged me. "Living creatures have a natural process of thought, they organize themselves almost unconsciously. Trying to confuse a mind reader like that isn't going to disorient me."

I attacked. He slipped away and took the same stance as the last time he attacked, generating another psycho boost. "You used all of-"

He gasped and ducked under my flail as it sailed past him, watching it sail away, and then fired his psycho boost right in my face, hitting me because I'd already been diving towards him. I hit the ground hard, gasping for breath.

 _So close…_

He had his eyes narrowed at me. "You are strong, Erza, but strength doesn't matter against me. I'll admit I did not expect you to just switch everything off and go by your battle instincts alone, but I have eyeballs. I can **see** things. And I'm swift enough to dodge them. And because you were just in attack mode, you left yourself wide open to my attack. It really would be in your best interests to walk away."

"Grr, I will not give up, not ever!" I shouted, "You're gonna have to take me down first!"

"Surely you can't stand for too long. You were hit by multiple psycho boosts, and you're about my size," he muttered.

I started whirling my flail, glaring at him and walking forward. He could read me, but I didn't care. I had to hit him. I started preparing my normal type energy. "I. Am going. To beat you!"

⽛ **Daemyn's POV** ⽛

"We're **really** gonna do this?" I asked, bending my knees slightly.

"If you want what's behind me." Ninetales gestured with her head back towards the middle of the back of the room, where the treasure she guarded prominently sat on a pedestal. It looked like a glass sphere with flame colors painted to the bottom of it, the fire swirling from the bottom of the sphere and spiraling towards the top, thinner and thinner so that the closer to the top you were, the more you could see through it. It was a really nice looking decoration.

"For a simple bauble, it has a lot of importance." she casually noted, giving me a sidelong glance. "Do you know why?"

"Not really. Doesn't look all that special to me." I admitted. It just looked nice, it seemed that was about it.

"It's special because the rules of the tournament said what I guarded was special. And because I chose it to be the item I would guard. It says a lot, I think, that just saying something is special causes people to put more value on it, which **then** makes it special." Ninetales smiled. "When I was very young, I always found it very odd that someone could just say something was valuable, and everyone would just agree."

I hummed in agreement, but… "I'm not sure what this has to do with us," I confessed, a little embarrassed.

"Am I not allowed to have a pleasant conversation with a friend?" she asked.

I shook my head. "No, no, I guess we can talk, but… I did kind of come here to do something and it feels really awkward now."

"It's going to feel a lot more awkward when you fight for the first time without using type aura moves." she promised me, and I blinked.

"How'd you…" I trailed off.

"It's usually true. Actual attacks are so much more effective than fighting without them normally. But I have trained myself in that kind of thing. It was out of pure boredom when I was seventy or so… It's a lot more vicious than you might think if you want to do enough damage to knock the other one unconscious."

"Um…" I didn't like the sound of that. "Does it really have to get that bad?"

"No," she said with an odd tone, tilting her head. "We can go until one of us concedes defeat, I believe. As long as we follow an honor code. If you concede, you walk away. If I concede, you walk away with the treasure. Don't worry, it will not break."

"Alright" I agreed quickly. "One more thing… What's with all the precious decor?"

"It's all stuff that isn't likely to break, but they all look quite unique, especially for a battlefield, as small as this is. If we aren't using moves, we have to be very skilled in using our paws to clamber around." Ninetales explained.

I was feeling really awkward. Caleb's talk with me started swimming through my head as I tried to come up with something to say. I really wanted to have something to talk about, because I figured if I could just come up with **something** she'd be really easy to talk to, but…

"What's wrong, Daemyn?" Ninetales asked me, and I snapped to attention.

"Uh… N-..." I cut myself off from saying 'nothing'. Honesty was the best policy. "I don't know what to say, but I want to keep talking… To you."

Ninetales studied me for a while, cocking her head slightly. "Do you believe people have to talk constantly?" she asked. "People don't have to speak randomly to fill the time. If you believe that, you've spent too much time with your absol friend."

I frowned. "Caleb has my full respect," I replied.

"But he has his flaws." Ninetales shot back, sitting down. "For one, his manipulations concern me. My title of Queen is rather insignificant. At least, compared to his definition of queen. I do not control the livelihoods of the pokemon that live in the region that my guild holds it's influence over. Frankly, I'm just like any other guildmaster, my region is just much larger than this one. But the human turned absol would bring his own definitions with him into this world, and assert himself."

"It's not like he had a choice." I was getting upset now. "And besides, he's the best for the job. Everyone pressures him about his life, and he is super, super careful with what he gives out and what people get from it."

"Please don't be frustrated," Ninetales said soothingly, her fluffy tails weaving a bit behind her. "I'm well aware of that. I'm just saying that he takes those habits and also applies them to his daily life. While I see some of these things are necessary to prevent his very presence from bringing discord, there are times he seems not to realize it isn't necessary."

"We can't expect someone to be perfect," I argued.

"Neither do I expect that." her gaze was soft and reassuring. "All I am saying is that we should not be so arrogant as to presume everything will magically be perfect just because it's been perfect through other kinds of disruption and disaster. But this disaster is something different. Caleb is the victim, and potentially the cause alike."

"Well…" I was going to try and refute that, but Ninetales held up a paw.

"This conversation is about you and me, Daemyn." She said quietly. "From what I understand, you were almost cruel once upon a time, but you grew past that thanks to your ever influential friend. But beyond that, once you were given a metaphorical strike on the head, you grew quickly on your own. You seem like a very good person to me, and despite being somewhat short tempered, you come across as a very kind person. I want to talk about you and what you need, not what Caleb stands for. Caleb is relevant to this conversation only in that you need to be wary of him, because if Caleb collapses under the pressure he puts on himself… I wish not to see you collapse too."

I fell silent. What on earth was I supposed to say to that?

She let the long pause go on for a while, before speaking up. "What do **you** want, Daemyn?"

"Um… I don't know."

She let out a laugh. "Yes, you do."

 _I… What?_

I looked o the room, my eyes falling on the 'treasure'.

 _Oh yeah._

"I want to participate in the tournament. And that means I'll be walking away with that treasure." I asserted, getting into a battle stance.

"Live in the moment." Ninetales smiled, standing and getting into a fighting stance herself. "But be warned, you will find yourself quickly overwhelmed."

I charged. "C'mon, it can't be that vicious-" I started, but as I reached her, her paw struck outwards and downwards, swiping my forepaws from under me, and then slid out of my vision. Then a force slammed into my throat from underneath, squeezing tightly as she lifted me up and twisted, and my world shifted sideways as she slammed me into the dirt.

 _Can't breathe!_

She took her jaws off my throat and stood up, backing off a few steps. "Are you going to try again?" Ninetales asked me.

I got to my feet. "That was fighting dirty," I commented.

She snorted. "Think about a world in which pokemon couldn't use the elements. Quadrupeds would have no choice but to fight like this. Would it be dirty then?"

 _Good point…_

I smirked. "Fine, but if we're playing like that, you'd better not curse me if I wind up dragging you around by your tails."

Another sort. "Please. Not all ninetales are petty enough to put life changing curses on others for having their tails touched. They aren't going to fall off, so why should we worry?"

I wasn't going to charge at her again like last time, but I realized she was the defender. She didn't **have** to attack. She just had to wait. So I needed to learn from my mistakes. She'd just nabbed my throat and slammed me. If I could get her throat… Wasn't there a saying about that?

I crept forward, starting to circle, before I jumped at her from the side. She jumped away, sliding behind a brightly colored metal sign looking thing that had weird writing on it, hanging on a pair of miniature metal pillars and attached to a rectangular base. I skidded around to catch up to her, and I watched her jump right at the sign. The sign part rotated on the parts it was connected to the pillars, and she spun it and escaped through it at the same time.

 _She did not! She did not just do that!_

I tried to jump through it too to follow her, figuring that would be faster than running haphazardly around it again, but it didn't budge when I hit it!. I toppled backward as the sign suddenly tilted the other way. I yelped and rotated onto my belly to scramble up, but the thing landed on my back and pinned me. Two golden blond paws wrapped around the top end, and Ninetales looked down and under to see me. "Give up yet?" she asked with a pretty smile.

 _Did she stop the thing from rotating so that I would fail? Sneaky…_

"Nope," I responded, before bracing myself and pushing up with my paws. With brute strength and shaking legs, I rose and lifted her and the metal sign thing up. "Holy cow, you're heavy," I grunted, making a joke.

"Are you sure you want to antagonize the one in charge?" Ninetales asked pleasantly, but like I suspected, there was a hint of 'I will destroy you' in her voice, like what usually happens when you talk about a girl's weight.

"Relax, I was talking to the sign." I lied, and she knew I was lying, and then I shook myself, causing Ninetales and the sign thing to slide off me, and I hopped away. I crashed into one of the standing lights with glowing spheres floating above them to provide illumination, and it toppled to the floor and almost tripped me up.

I turned to smirk at Ninetales, and saw nothing but blond-slash-cream color as she tackled me, and we went rolling. She ended up on top of my and she bashed her skull into my chin and it **hurt**."Ow! Are we even?" I asked.

She got off me and snagged my paw in her jaws, tossing me clear across the room so I slammed into what appeared to be a fluffy chair of some kind. "Now we are," she smirked.

"Ugh… I'm losing badly…" I muttered, but I stood up and got back in a fighting stance. I figured I knew what to do now.

She charged me, and I charged her. We lunged at the same time, and tried to pass each other. She grabbed my shoulder and I grabbed hers as we tried to scratch at each other with our paws as well. Eventually, my superior physical strength won out and I slammed her into the floor, and then I tried to do it again.

She played dirty and swept her tail across my nose, making me sneeze. The next thing I knew, I was on my back again while the nine tailed fox was preparing to attack.

I flailed with my paws and kicked her away while I caught my breath. Holy crap, I was getting my tail handed to me. I rolled to my paws and braced myself, but Ninetales had gone back on the defensive, waiting for me. I looked around, and smiled at the heavy looking light fixture, and I hopped over and grabbed it in my teeth. Now I had a weapon.

Ninetales hopped away from me as I smashed the thing down near her, but I then lost my balance, and she trotted up and quickly tilted me over with her paw, making me fall to my side and lose my grip on the object. "That isn't how you use a weapon." she chastised me, before padding away and walking to the piles of things behind the treasure pedestal, and started rummaging through it.

To get revenge for her making me sneeze, I snuck up behind her and pounced, landing on her back as she was looking, and we both sunk into the piles of random artifacts, tools and treasures made of shiny bronze or sometimes gold. The pile broke, and the valuable avalanche slid us down to the floor next to each other, which did not go unnoticed.

She hopped back into the pile, prompting me to follow. Everything broke away under me, so it was hard to make ground as she reached into the pile and pulled a simple rod of silver-colored metal. "This is how you use a weapon," she said through the bar and jumped at me.

 _Ow. Ow. Ow._

She smacked me left and right, up and down in a matter of seconds, even releasing the object as she sent it spinning in an attack and then grabbing it out of the air to simulate weapon styles that bipeds were supposed to use, and she was kicking my tail **again**.

I eventually grabbed the other and of it, and Ninetales and I played a quick game of tug-of-war.

I finally got up the nerve to grab the other end of the stupid thing and we played a game of tug of war. I was naturally stronger, and I started pulling her as she pressed her paws to the dirt, skidding along as I made my way back.

She then let go of it at the wrong (right?) time and I toppled backward, and she tackled me in my moment of disorientation, the rod dropped to the ground and was swiftly forgotten.

We landed, and I was on my back again, and Ninetales had landed on top without touching the ground, so her weight was on me, and she snapped at my face at the same moment I tried to bite at hers.

Which didn't turn out… **Quite** the way I expected.

All the fighting just stopped, and we stared at each other. Part of me was thinking about how it felt, which was kind of distracting, but her cream-slash-blonde furred face was tinted red with heat as she stared back, astonished.

 _Glad nobody saw… Oh, who am I kidding?_

We looked up at the same time, my ears resting in the dirt and her looking in the same direction as me as we heard a single noise that stacked on our embarrassment.

 _Are you serious!?_

Machoke was watching with mild interest, noticeably with a swirling yellow and orange drink in his hand. Probably orange gummi and nanab berry, brow raised at the two of us. "Is this a bad time?" he asked.

⽊ **Erza's POV** ⽊

My frown deepened.

"You've been standing there for several minutes." Azelf noted absently, floating in a relaxed manner. "I don't have to hear your thoughts to know you feel stuck."

"Shut your ever-rambling mouth, pipsqueak." I snapped. "You're annoying."

Now **he** frowned. "You are hardly that much larger than I am, Erza." he retorted.

I leapt at him on a whim, and he pointed to his left with his hand, causing me to feel a force and I was pushed slightly in that direction, making me start sailing over the cold water again, forcing me to use my vine whip to get back before I took an unwelcome dip. While in the air, I threw my flail at the back of his head, but it just stopped before it hit him, and he took it in his hand.

"Quite a bit of ingenuity." Azelf commended me, looking it over. "To combine an energy ball and your leaf blade attack to accomplish this. Most people wouldn't expect that of you."

"What's that supposed to mean, jerk!?"

"It means you act impulsive and fight violently, and most people like that aren't associated with taking the time to invent an entirely new technique."

Man, this guy was such a jerk! It was hard to focus on anything other than that. I felt like I was forgetting something, but I couldn't bother with that right now. "What the heck is wrong with you? Is just being a legendary **that** important to you that you have to act all arrogant all the time?"

He crossed his arms. "I accepted being a part of this tournament thing, but I'll have you know I wasn't exactly excited about it. The whole world knows about this place, pretty much, ever since **your** friend Jake and his teammate Swampert found it. I prefer to relax. I'll fully admit to being lazier than you would expect from the 'being of willpower'. I'd hoped I wouldn't have to get involved, because frankly, things like this really aren't a challenge for me. You encountered Rayquaza, a legendary pokemon. While he and myself are not exactly on par in most circumstances, I can hold my own for the same reasons I can hold you off. Legendary pokemon are not to be trifled with."

"Yeah? How'd Jake and Swampert beat a bunch of you, then?" I asked, a little calmer now. He was trying to get me to walk away instead of embarrassing myself less than he was patting himself on the back.

He rolled his eyes. "Uxie decided not to attack after they beat the groudon illusion." he pointed out. "And Mesprit was caught off guard because even reading the human-turned-pikachu's mind, he exceeded his own expectations multiple times and thus hit Mesprit multiple times, fooling her by fooling himself. You are not like this."

He was right. I **wasn't** like that. And as a bonus problem, lightning was a lot faster than my attacks without quick attack, and generally more expansive. So I needed to figure something out, but I was forgetting something.

 _...Oh._

Azelf's eyes widened as I managed to react to my own memory of my extra trick and caused the flail to detonate right in his face. He shot downwards, bouncing off of a crystal structure, and splashing into the water. Oh, that was satisfying.

He rose up, looking pretty darn battered. No wonder getting caught off guard just a few times took these fragile little guys out. "How exactly does one take being forgetful as an advantage?" he asked a bit drily.

I just shrugged. I had to figure out how to hit him a second time, but I was pretty sure I hadn't temporarily forgotten anything else. I was just lucky it hadn't occurred to me until just now.

"I'm afraid this changes things a bit." Azelf raised his arm at me. "Now I feel like attacking."

 _...Oh._

I dove out of the way of that freakishly fast psycho boost and was still thrown by the blast. I was feeling weak after all the other hits I took. Actually, I probably didn't have any right to keep standing. But I did anyways. I wasn't going to quit until this guy made me.

But he was actually firing quickly and dangerously now. With my force of will boosting and refilling his psychic power, he could just keep firing those things.

I had to make the small amount of normal type energy count, but if he knew I was coming, he'd just teleport and make me waste it. I had to get past that and dodge his attacks at the same time.

How on earth do you deal with a mind reader? I'd bet Caleb could break him with raw information, but I couldn't. I didn't underestimate myself, so Jake's method was out. And I don't know what anyone else did. What on earth was I supposed to do?

 _Well, what usually causes people to get hit? There's distraction, but if he knows I'm trying to distract him that won't work. If they don't notice it, that's out too, for obvious reasons. But it's not hopeless, it can't be!_

I just had to attack. I had to try and turn my still bountiful grass type aura into energy for my quick attack, see if I could add it to my small amount of normal energy.

I closed my eyes and felt for my power. I didn't care if Azelf was listening in. This was a last resort and an attempt to be inventive. With my normal energy mostly gone, my grass energy totally overshadowed it. I tried to start manipulating it, pushing and pulling at the energies experimentally, because I didn't really know how to do this.

They existed in the same place, but they were separate. Surely I could mix the two. I kept mentally moving the stuff around, feeling pretty weird because I was doing so, and I mentally commanded them to fuse. Using words didn't really work, predictably.

I grimaced and kept working at it, trying to see if I could really do it. I needed it to win, so I **would** accomplish it. Otherwise, I'd lose, and I wasn't going to do that. Not this time.

There was a long silence as I kept concentrating. This was really hard! I guess I didn't really understand how exactly the type auras worked, otherwise this would be way easier. And Azelf was just letting me do it for some reason, though I guess he had a good reason.

Finally, I felt something, as I started to expand my normal energy and condense my grass energy, and they started to feel different as I could feel them mingle and pulse. My scowl gave way to a victorious smirk, and I opened my eyes and looked at Azelf, who had his arms crossed and he looked rather impressed.

"Not bad," he commented. "Now what are you going to do?"

I lifted my weapons up, and enveloped myself in my new quick attack. The flames were not a light green like I expected, but more like green with white flecks swarming through it. I **liked** this look.

Then I reequipped my speed scarf, and my vision went funny again, and then I made the best snap decision I could.

Since the main goal was basically 'attack, I shot over to the nearest large crystal and bounced off it. Then I did it again and again with different crystals, only choosing what to hit the next time I jumped. I swore I was moving even faster than before.

Then I hit Azelf. There wasn't anything to it. I slammed my flail into his fragile little face before he could make the conscious decision to teleport. Snap decisions and moving way, way too fast won the day.

He smashed into the crystal near the water and slid into it as I lost control of my angle and dropped my normal-slash-grass quick attack and uncontrollably flipped in the air until I landed face first on the crystal floor and slid several feet. It hurt like heck, but I wasn't going to let myself fall unconscious just yet.

Grunting, I stood and carefully stepped over to the water's edge, looking over at my reflection. Man, I looked **super** battered. I had no right not to be unconscious right now.

I frowned. Was my reflection turning blue?

Then I watched, eyes wide, as Azelf weakly floated himself out of the water, one eye closed. I'd cracked the gem on his forehead, but that would heal. "You're… Not done yet…" he growled, summoning one psycho boost in each hand.

 **Clang!**

My flail hit the top of his head, and he slumped unconscious to the ground to my side. I couldn't help it, even though it hurt, I started laughing happily.

Then I fell on my back, my energy to move totally gone. "I won," I said to myself. "Did anybody see that? I kicked their asses. I win. Suck it, pompous legendary and OP guildmaster, hahaha… Even if that's totally my bad, Goodra. Wonder if Sap Sipper seems so great now and I'm rambling and kinda tired…"

I blacked out.

⽛ **Daemyn's POV** ⽛

"Yes! This is a bad time!" I shouted.

Ninetales didn't have anything witty to say, her cheeks were still red.

"Are you sure?"

"What the heck are you even doing, did you seriously take a break to Spinda's Cafe while I was searching!?" I asked, eye twitching. I wasn't angry about that, not really.

"You've got the nose, not me. I would have just been wandering about uselessly." Machoke supplied, even knowing I wasn't angry about that.

I grunted and covered my eyes with my paws. "Why, why couldn't that have just gone unnoticed?" I asked. "It was an accident!"

There was an awkward pause as Machoke watched, then he shrugged, turned around, and left. Well, almost. He looked back and gave me a thumbs up on the way out. I was gonna have words with him when I got out of this.

Speaking of…

"...Are you gonna get off anytime soon?" I asked, and the normally very calm and collective guildmaster yelped and scrambled off of me, breathing heavily and turned away from me.

I stood up, looking away. "So… Should we pretend that didn't happen? Also, is that normally what happens in that kind of thing?"

She apparently decided my second question was more interesting to answer, so she ignored the former thought for a moment. "...No. Both of us snapped our jaws shut prematurely," she said, straightening a bit.

I thought back to my conversation with Caleb about who I was, something that drove my respect for him from massive to incalculable, that made Ninetales just implying something was wrong with him brought anger flashing through me before I could squash it with rationality. And I'd become flustered by the very mention of this guildmaster's name. When I'd fallen for Sarah, I'd done many things to try pull her to love me back, but she resisted. But that wasn't a good example of how I should act because Sarah's reaction was skewed by whatever crazy magic was messing with her emotions.

And the both of us were debilitated at the very event where we accidentally made lip to lip contact. I wondered if she was at least as confused as I was, so I decided to use my mouth. Not that way.

"You know, when I talked with Caleb, he had this weird moment when he focused on what I think of you, and then kind of dropped it immediately and left me confused. I didn't know what to say."

She turned and looked at me, her expression clearing somewhat as she regained her composure. "He was much more confrontational with me," she said. "When I implied that he should joke around more and try to be happier, he assured I would not do it again by teasing me about a potential relationship between the two of us. I had no adequate response for him."

"He embarrassed you into silence? Why would he do that?" I asked.

She sent me an odd look. "We are having a conversation about ourselves." she reminded me patiently. "Though in terms of ourselves, he has brought up a very clear point. When pokemon are friends, they aren't confused about it. But by all rights, we know each other well enough that we should be friends, which rules out the other time I can imagine us being in a state of confusion; being forced to converse without really liking each other, though not hating each other. Case in point: Our problem is significantly different."

"But you know what it is, don't you? Weren't you the one that not-so-subtly mentioned your age relative to your instincts to Caleb or something? And why Caleb?"

"For your information, that was purely informative," she said without missing a beat or even blinking. "Most don't understand the process for a ninetales' age. If I did not inform Caleb of this, or anyone else who asked my age for that matter, what would their reaction be if I found myself falling in love with them?"

I couldn't help but snicker. "Could it be 'What the heck is this creepy old lady doing!?'"

"Thin ice, pup, and I am a fire pokemon." Ninetales retorted playfully.

"Question." I stopped smiling. "What happens when you outlive someone?"

"The circumstances of that depends on what the pair wants." Ninetales supplied easily. "I have heard of ancestors of mine using magic with their mate's consent to prolong their mate's life to the extent of their own. I have not seen it in person, however. My mother's mate apparently chose not to follow this pattern, instead deciding to live his natural life. She respected his wish."

 _That must mean her father's already passed on… I don't know why I expected this to be less heavy than it was, considering my question._

"I'm sorry." I apologized.

"Don't be." she flicked her tails. "A long life can be a curse, and my father knew it. I myself could have chosen to remain a vulpix instead of evolving, to shorten my life. Both a ninetales and any potential mates they have are presented a choice. In six hundred years, I may even regret choosing my path, but at the same time, I devote my life to keeping the peace and providing order as best I can with as many people as I can by being the guildmaster of the largest guild in the largest region. I very much doubt I will regret my choice because the task I gave to myself I can fulfill indefinitely and further. Besides, I knew him for his entire life after I hatched, and the experience was a full and pleasant one."

"That's a really hard choice," I commented somewhat absently. "Who was your father?"

"A sawsbuck, if you can believe it. It may even be why I can pull off such an effective solarbeam even if the sun isn't beating down on me because of my activated ability." She smiled, her eyes seeming to glaze over a bit as she lost herself in memories. "Grass types live relatively long lives compared to some other types, but he never lost himself. He was very supportive, but always maintained a self-teaching philosophy, that pokemon learn best through experience, through taking the time to innovate and invent with their powers."

I realized I hadn't plotted any response to that kind of thing, so I just nodded.

"And you?"

I almost didn't realize she'd asked the question. I looked down. "They both have similar attitudes. Both mightyenas, both supportive parents. I guess it was me that just somehow turned rotten in spite of that."

She frowned as I degraded myself a bit, but I pressed on. "I went back home recently, and they were happy to have me back, and they didn't judge me one bit. And after all the things I'd screwed up, I couldn't believe I deserved it for a while. And maybe I did, maybe I didn't. But they gave me forgiveness anyways. I'm not quite sure where they are right now, but they must be somewhere close to the town or in it, or they were discreetly following me or something. If they were, Gallade must have made a darn good distraction."

"Gallade?" Ninetales quirked a brow.

I blinked. "Uh… Yeah. He was acting weirdly angry at me for a while, and then I caught his scent and heard him a few times while we were traveling before we decided to check here. I didn't know what I'd done, so…"

"That is troubling." Ninetales kept frowning. "Not the kind of behavior that you would expect from a typical pokemon."

 _Man, I kind of did something similar after Caleb pissed me off… But what pissed Gallade off?_

Ignoring the irony in Ninetales thinking I fell under her rationale of 'typical pokemon', I managed a grin. "Hey, it's probably nothing. I'll just try to pull a trick like Caleb did to me if he actually bothers to look me in the eyes. Anyways, what happened after Caleb embarrassed you?"

She didn't like the change of topic, but sighed. "I pointed out that it was manipulative of him to do that to me like he did, and he acknowledged that. Then he gave a rather depressing and in my opinion fundamentally incorrect speech about what it meant to truly fail. We moved on relatively quickly. What happened to you?"

"He moved on, but it was like he was letting the thought sit on me," I replied. "And I'm grateful for it, honestly. If he hadn't, I would never have been able to even hold a proper discussion about it. I had some more time to think about it so I'm not blustering like a complete idiot."

"Which means what?" she asked.

"Well… Actually, there was another thing that happened. I'm kinda impulsive, see, and my mind was still on you when Caleb was moving on, and I kinda said that you and Caleb talk similarly and considering his problems with instincts I said we should both be glad he wasn't a girl."

"...I have a disturbing mental image in my mind." The Queen confessed. "Topic change. What do you think after all of that thinking?"

"Um… Well, You're very straightforward, and you have a very good outlook on life. You don't just agree with people if they're your friend, from what I can tell of your issues with Caleb, and you're also pretty laid back, which I just emphasize with. So you've got a lot of the things I respect about Caleb as a friend, and there's a lot of things I also think we have in common. So I'm a little hesitant to say it out loud but…"

There was a pause, so Ninetales sat down. "To me, you come across as somewhat lazy unless you're on the battlefield, in which you unleash a quick battle style." she started, and my heart sank a bit because she wasn't saying anything about whether that was good or bad to her, which sounded like she was going with pure information mode. "You show that you try to complicate things, but often you abandon this notion in favor of simplifying it eventually. You like running jokes, and you'll push them even if it's gotten old, like arguing with the red absol Sarah over petty things."

My ears probably showed my oncoming depression. Rejected again.

She looked me in the eyes. "You know, I have a few running jokes that irritate my training guild members," she announced, and I blinked. "I like long naps and have trouble waking up in the morning sometimes, and while I don't try to complicate things as much as you seem to, I have a similar solution process. See, we aren't so different. And no matter what you've done, you seem to be a very loyal and kind person, and a great friend to people who might need your support."

"Sneaky fox…" I muttered under my breath.

"I can hardly decide for you, Daemyn." Ninetales changed the topic again. "You have to decide what you want before I feel comfortable making a decision on my own."

"Well… I'd like to know what you want." I said.

"..." she looked me over. "I want to not have to try again in the future. I decided long ago I wanted a commitment."

Sound faded away from me as I experienced a storm of heavy thoughts. Was I the kind of pokemon that could provide that commitment? I'd fallen for Sarah and quickly given up on that notion, even if those circumstances were hopeless. I didn't count on not screwing up again…

' _You have to decide what you want', huh? Is that all she thinks there is to it? I don't think so, she probably knows it's more complicated than that, so why simplify it for me? Does she think I can just power through the issues I can see?_

 _Well… Why can't I? Why does everything have to be so complicated?_

I slowly cleared my mind, thinking about just my emotions and basic common sense. I liked life being simple. I was more than happy with that. My mind would rush to worry about the future and what if this and what if that, and then I would think about how I feel like a very different person, and a bunch of other argumentative nonsense that frankly wasn't a good use of my time.

My heart, once I cleared my mind, said there wasn't a shred of a chance I would give this up once I committed to it.

I looked Ninetales in the eye, smiling. "Yeah, I do want that," I said.

"As do I." she agreed calmly, a relaxed smile crossing her face.

There was a short pause.

"I'm getting that freaky mental image again," I whined, remembering my talk with Caleb.

"I think we'll get past that," Ninetales assured me.

"What do we do now?" I asked, looking at the treasure. "I mean, are we supposed to keep fighting after that?"

"Not exactly." Ninetales's eyes suddenly darkened, and her tails swished around a bit. I got a sense of impending doom, and stepped back a bit. "If I am to take the role of a girlfriend, I had best act accordingly. And so far today you have called me a crazy old lady and on the heavy side."

 _Bad choice, bad choice!_

"I'm afraid I won't be holding back on you, because you do still need the treasure." she mused calmly, and then lunged.

* * *

Ten minutes later, she dragged me up the steps and out of the little cave thing she had. I'd really done my best in the fight, but she'd kicked my ass and then some. I guess I needed real practice with non-type move fighting. Even as I started to learn, she evaded my tricks and used the field to assist her in getting revenge for being called an old lady.

"Ow…" I whined as she dropped me.

"I think we're even now. I do have a job to do, though, so have a nice day, Daemyn. I'll see you later." I heard her padding calmly back into the place while I lay in that spot she'd plopped me down in. Fighting like that required a lot of close contact, even if it did seem a little barbaric just because I didn't grow up with that kind of fighting.

Machoke found me like that a minute later, still drinking that nanab and orange gummi drink, because of course he was. "What did you do to get beat up **that** badly?" he asked.

"Called her old… And heavy."

He snorted. "Bad choice." he echoed my previous thoughts, and then crouched down, picking me up by the scruff and setting me down on my paws. I wobbled a bit, but kept standing. "So what'd it feel like?"

"Pain."

"I meant your first kiss, dude." the fighting type rolled his eyes.

"It was an accident," I mumbled. "But I'd do it again."

I neglected to mention that I was a guildmaster's boyfriend now, but eh. Details.

⽊ **Erza's POV** ⽊

I felt cold. I'd fallen unconscious, huh? That's fine. I won first. I slowly opened my eyes, seeing the glimmering ceiling of crystals hovering far, far above us. It looked really nice. I guess if they messed with light properly, people who lived here could still have their own 'night sky' above them. All the time.

I sat up, looking around. Goodra and Azelf had woken up, and were talking casually over by the water's edge. They looked okay, so I guess they'd gone and given themselves some berries. "Morning." I raised a leafy hand.

"It's nearly evening." Azelf corrected, not at all surprised that I was awake.

Goodra stepped up. "That was commendable." he complimented me. "I never thought one day an opponent would drive my strength up to such an extent that it was not safe for anyone, including me, to attack. I was forced to let you keep hitting me until I lost consciousness. What's your nickname again?"

"Erza."

"Well, Erza, you gave me a lot to think about. You should be proud of your accomplishment."

"Agreed." Azelf floated up to Goodra's side. "As arrogant as I acted, there was no doubt you did some things I did not think any opponent of mine would do. I can only blame myself for my loss."

"Yeah, you talked a lot, man." I got up fully. "And you kinda just let me hit you that last time, but a win's still a win I think."

"You may have fallen unconscious soon after you won, but you still defeated a legendary pokemon and a guildmaster. You have more than earned the treasure we are keeping for the tournament. Then, as I suspect Azelf's just been **waiting** for, we can leave him alone and he can relax some." Goodra told me.

"Cool. Where's this treasure?" I asked, looking around. It hadn't exactly been on display.

"I tossed it in my lake. You are going to have to have all of your determination to get it out of the cold depths of the lake." Azelf told me, his eyes flashing.

"Where's my teammates?" I asked, walking up to the water and looking in. It was a beautiful blue color with all the crystals, but I couldn't see into it very far.

"They woke up some time ago. They were just waiting for you to wake up, but they decided to take a nap."

"Figures. Welp, let's do this." I touched my hand to the water, wincing at the super cold water. "Glad I never landed in here," I commented as I promptly dunked my head under and forced myself to get over the freezing cold, opening my eyes.

Not too much. I raised my head and looked at my tail. Yeah, that could make a decent makeshift fin. Without another word I just hopped into the water.

 _Oh my god I regret this. No turning back now!_

I kept my eyes open as I swam downwards, waving my tail and trying to use it as a fin. It didn't work amazingly, but it kind of worked. I moved around, looking for it in the water, and made it to the bottom of the lake, though this was just by the shore. It was probably way deeper further in.

I needed air, and I didn't see it. So I pushed myself up and broke the surface, taking in a big gulp of air. I then extended my vines and extend them into the water. I would try to fish for it as I swam.

And the water was **so frickin' cold**. I don't think I was supposed to be in this kind of cold for extended periods of time, but I was gonna do it anyways. Nevermind that I just woke up from having my ass kicked by two tough opponents.

I kept going, trying to make contact with something by sweeping my vines along the bottom, and I made contact with something. I snagged it and pulled it to me, and what I saw made me smile.

I used my other vine to tow myself back to the water's edge. "That was a frickin' breeze!" I held up the thing. It looked like a glass sphere, with a lime green double helix swirling from the top of the orb around the outside of the thing and down to the bottom, but the bottom was covered by a kind of bowl of crystals pointing diagonally outwards and upwards randomly, like a pearl in a display meant specifically for it. It was very pretty.

And it was all mine.

"Alright, you two!" I used a vine to jostle the twins from a distance making them wake up. They didn't hesitate to hop over to me, full of energy. "I won, so that means we're officially in the running!"

They gave a wordless cheer and gave the thing a close look before settling down. I put the thing in my bag and waved to my opponent's as I walked off. No point in settling down and having nice long conversations, that just wasn't my thing.

I felt like I was feeling how I was supposed to feel, like a weight had been lifted. I wasn't going to let myself get so confused again.

That reminded me. I owed Caleb a good whack over the head. I needed to have a few words with him too. Which one should I do first?

⽕ **Sarah's POV** ⽕

"Where are we going?" I asked.

" **North**."

"Why?"

" **Because we can**."

"Um…"

" **Dungeons on the water's edge tend to be less populated by other pokemon, partially because they don't know about them. I know about them because I was asked to memorize the map**."

 _By Caleb._

" **And anything that most pokemon don't know about is automatically a possible place for a guildmaster.** "

"Nothing's going to be more distracting than fighting a guildmaster." I agreed with Shedinja, looking out. "We're in the middle of the desert, though. We should find an oasis soon."

Shedinja made a deep sound, maybe a grunt of agreement. " **I know where one is.** "

I let him lead the way. Considering I'd never memorized the map like Caleb had gotten him to.

 _I wonder how Caleb's doing. I hope he's okay. He doesn't have me to protect him, and I should be-_

I shook my head violently.

 _ **No! Bad Sarah!**_

As I mentally scolded myself, I noticed we were cresting a dune and lo and behold, a pretty oasis in the distance, and just beyond that, an odd rock structure of some kind of red and gray stone. That mattered a little less than the oasis, of course, but it was a source of shade for sure.

I bounded over to the water and started to take a long drink. It was crystal clear, and the water was delicious, as it should be. Walking through the desert wasn't fun. My fur had totally lost its shine.

"Ah… Worth it…" I mumbled between drinks, and then stood up properly. "Let's use the rock thing over there to get some shelter and look at our map."

" **Um… Should we really? It looks a bit weird, like an archway.** " he commented, sounding a smidge nervous.

"I'm sure it's fine," I assured him. "It's not like it's even like that new small dungeon right before the desert. It's totally uneven and random looking. Why would it be the same?"

" **Sarah, our lives have this horrific comic timing.** "

I started walking over. I needed something to do. I'd just kick ass if it did happen. So I walked into the archway halfway and sat myself down in the shade. The ground was warm, but the shade was nice anyways. Shedinja floated up to me as I dragged our map out and rolled it out. "Where are you taking me?" I asked.

" **Along the coast to the north, I think. We could go to the island up to the northwest**."

"Shedinja, the artwork on this island screams 'fire'," I commented. "Do you really want to go to a land filled with fire types?"

He looked right at me. " **If it means I can help you. It's across a stretch of water, which will be difficult to cross without me to float you over.** "

"But if I get desperate enough against my will, won't I find myself trying to swim anyways?" I asked, and he quickly backtracked.

" **Let's not. The last thing we need is you dropping into an ocean mystery dungeon without me and being trapped. I wouldn't know what to do and if I lost you, where to find you. So why don't we go east on the coast instead? As far as we know, it's totally free of mystery dungeons until we get to that tower.** "

"What tower?"

" **Look at the white mark on the map.** " Shedinja instructed, and I did. Over to the top right corner of the map stood a detailed mark that looked like a large white tower. " **The tower's actually blue and white, Caleb told me from what he's heard, but that's all anybody knows. It's all sealed up, and nobody's been able to get in or break through its doors. It's also huge, with a massive diameter and height. I'd like to see it in person, it's out of the way, and we could spend our time trying to open it.** "

"Sounds like a half-plan. What if Caleb, cause he's so smart, decides to investigate it himself?"

Shedinja shifted from side to side like he does to show he's shaking his head. " **Caleb knows we went north, so he will probably stick to the south**." he rationalized. " **He'll probably be curious enough to check it out eventually, but he cares too much about fixing your problem to put that in jeopardy for a tower he's probably going to be the first to unlock anyways**."

That made sense. But in the back of my head, something screamed at me to find a way to venture south. I closed my eyes and tried to force it down. "Let's make a decision quickly… If that's our best option, let's do it, no more discussion." I said hurriedly. He moved up and down to nod and I rolled the map back up with my paw pad and slid it back into my bags. Then I twisted to get out of the place.

So of course, that's when things go wrong.

The sands shifted as I apparently hit a key point in what Shedinja had correctly assumed had been a dungeon entrance activated when I strayed too far into the thing. The surroundings didn't change all that much, but the freaking oasis disappeared.

 _Really?_ _ **One**_ _symbol of beauty? Too much to ask for?_

Oh, and the gate vanished too. Whoop de doo. With dungeon pokemon literally climbing out of the ground everywhere effectively neutralizing the momentary happiness I felt at seeing the staircase in plain view. This dungeon had floors like really large and sparse monster houses, I guess.

" **This is the Shimmer Desert mystery dungeon**." Shedinja said. " **It looks like we're here for the duration**."

 _Okay. Time to blow up some fools._

My water pulse nailed dugtrios left and right. Playing whack-a-mole was fun enough, but then a nidoking intervened and tried to mash me under his huge fist.  
Shedinja blocked the strike while I just kept up the water pulse. Every darn thing here was easily destroyed with water pulse. It was really, really easy.

We decided after I had some fun that it would be better to try and get through the floors real quick. We didn't want to waste a bunch of energy in the middle of the desert anyways.

Shedinja turned his shell's face downwards and I hopped onto his back. He then just flared away, taking me with him. Even if I didn't have room to move, I was fine.

We got to the staircase we'd seen and I jumped down it, disappearing into the depths. Then it wasn't dark anymore as we touched down in flirt two.

Progression was cake because of this because all our enemies couldn't really hit Shedinja. Some rock type attacks sailed at us from the ground, but I blew them away.

If we hadn't cheesed it, all the super tough Pokemon swarming us could have brought us down, honestly. Still, we got to the ninth floor without much of a problem.

"Suddenly sandstone." I commented as we stepped out.

" **Sarah.** " Shedinja suddenly spoke up. " **Is that…?** "

"Yeah." I nodded. "And it's not guarded at all."

Every floor but this one had been more desert, but this thing was a large sandstone cave. And right at the end of it was a spherical glass ball on a pedestal of earth, alternating red and yellow colors going up it in lines.

" **This is too easy. Sarah, what do your absol senses tell you?** " Shedinja asked. I concentrated, trying to form a mental map. It wasn't easy for me, but I knew Caleb could do it. Maybe he'd be more impressed with me if I could do what he could do.

Then I stilled. "Uh… Shedinja? We may be in trouble."

"How astute of you to notice" we heard, and the ground began to rumble. Garchomp emerges right out of the sand, standing tall. We got the garchomp guildmaster. **Great**.

"Hey, you should probably just let us by, because I've got Shedinja with me." I said, not wanting to get oh so totally annihilated. I wasn't wrong, after all. Garchomp couldn't do squat to Shedinja.

"Why would I ever enter a battle with such an obvious loophole without a partner?" Garchomp asked.

 **BOOM.**

My danger senses, despite not being that strong, began tingling madly.

 **BOOM.**

"Shedinja, what is that?"

" **How am I supposed to be able to tell?** "

 **CRASH!**

A massive clawed hand busted through the wall behind Garchomp. Then a huge clawed foot did the same. A massive creature walked straight through the sandstone and straight over the pedestal, appearing through the dust as it was swept away by an enormous roar.

"May I introduce you to Groudon?" Garchomp gestured to his teammate.

"Um… Wait!" I called, "is he even a fire type?"

" **NOT… YET…** " Groudon boomed, as the pressure in the room rose tremendously as he exerted raw power.

"It seems Groudon sees the Shedinja as a threat." Garchomp noted passively. "He's going all out immediately."

"A-all out?" I stammered, my life flashing before my eyes.

Groudon began to grow even bigger somehow. His body trembled and had bursts of growth at regular intervals. The black lines that traced his red scales starting to glow yellow as the heat in the room started rising. Finally, he stopped, but was a freaking monster of a Pokemon!

" **YOU MAY HAVE BEEN A THREAT IN MY BASIC FORM, SPIRIT** " he rumbled " **BUT IN MY PRIMAL STATE, I BEAR THE ELEMENT OF FIRE.** "

 _Are you serious!?_

Groudon opened his mouth. Garchomp dived under the earth and didn't come back up.

"This isn't gonna feel good." I deadpanned.

" **Agreed**."

 **KA… BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!**

* * *

⻤ **Shedinja's POV** ⻤

Sarah lay on her back in the sand next to the oasis, her normally white-pink coat blackened and the rest of her looking burned. I myself had woken up just fine after being knocked out for a while, but I was annoyed because I just had no means of getting a rawst berry into her mouth. I wasn't physically built for that. So until she woke up naturally, she was going to look extremely cooked. And she wouldn't appreciate the irony of her being beaten by fire.

But I'd been waiting for twenty minutes, and I heard her groan.

"Ow…" she whined softly, cutely, trying to open her eyes but being forced to squint them at the sun overhead. "We lost…"

" **I… Yeah, we did.** " I agreed. " **But there's no way we were equipped for that. Guildmaster Garchomp obviously expects pokemon to be forced to team up to get the treasure, to see if they fight over it afterward and cause some chaos. If the chaos gets bad enough, people take notice and it's up to someone to manage to escape with the thing, which then paints a huge target on their backs. It makes the tournament interesting.** "

"So that's the goal? Cool. We'll need Caleb, and Daemyn, and Erza, and everyone's teammates, and We'll kick all the ass. 'Specially Caleb. I really need Caleb to be here." Sarah muttered.

" **No**." I asserted, " **We will not. We will allow someone else to do that. We're going somewhere where Caleb isn't likely to be. He's considerate enough to give us space to roam. Destiny Tower.** "

"I'm not letting big and glowy get away with toasting me!" Sarah roared, bouncing to her paws and visibly regretting it moments later as her burns probably started stinging real bad. "Rawst berry. Ow. Rawst berry." she started rooting in her pack.

" **Yes, you are.** " I asserted once more. " **Eat your rawst berry. We should set off at once.** "

Sarah sighed. "I would love to see Caleb come up with a way to beat those two." she mumbled, but I got in front of her right away, wishing I could convey how serious I was with expressions.

" **Tough.** " I told her. " **Eat the berry, drink some more water, and let's get out of here.** "

She ate the berry, and I watched her fur return to their normal color, her burns fading away like magic. She obediently took another long drink to deal with the problem of being force-fed sand after being hit with a legendary level fire attack. I'm not sure what the heck the attack was, but it definitely blew everything up. Even if I went into my own shadow, My entire shadow would have been nailed by the blast and I couldn't have avoided it.

Maybe if we'd just attacked instead of watching Groudon power up… But still. Sarah didn't need to think about that. Once she'd committed to what I needed her to do, she stood up, raring to go.

"Let's get out of this freaking desert."

* * *

 **I hope I got you guys with the title of this chapter. Just because it said 'victory', I bet some of you thought all the battles were going to be won. But hey, they lost a battle again! Have these guys lost battles since Rayquaza beat their asses? At least Erza has the raw determination to keep standing and fighting even when she's battered and bruised, and has a touch of the plot armor her scarlet haired counterpart enjoys in her canon that has nothing to do with this story.**

 **Oh, and DaemynXQueen Ninetales is official and stuff.**

 **Anyways, I need sleep. Review, tell me what you thought, felt, etcetera. Critique welcome. Thanks guys and gals. Good night.**


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